Santa Barbara County Office of Education

Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. District totals are aggregated directly from the schools reporting under this district in the source records. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.

Santa Barbara, California - 3 schools

86
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
-
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types

District-Level NCES Analysis

Santa Barbara County Office of Education operates 3 public schools serving 86 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 combined schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Santa Barbara County.

The funding mix is 57.5% local, 22.0% state, and 20.5% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers.

and 52.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 90.8% Hispanic or Latino, 4.8% White, 2.0% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Santa Barbara County Special Education, with a diversity index of 25.8/100.

Its largest campus is Santa Barbara County Special Education, enrolling 49 students (46% of the district's total enrollment).

Santa Barbara County Special Education accounts for 45.8% of all Santa Barbara County Office of Education student enrollment

That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Santa Barbara County Office of Education a distant remainder — means Santa Barbara County Office of Education-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: combined. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data NCES Common Core of Data

Santa Barbara County Office of Education has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 72.7% of the population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch

free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Eligibility here is approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.

Source: ESSA Title I Part A; ED EDFacts file system ESSA Title I Part A; ED EDFacts file system

Santa Barbara County Office of Education chronic absenteeism rate is 52.0% — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)

chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Values this far above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.

Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22 NCES Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22

Where does the funding come from?

20.5%
Federal
22.0%
State
57.5%
Local

Student Demographics

Average demographic composition across 3 schools in Santa Barbara County Office of Education.

White 4.8%
Hispanic or Latino 90.8%
Asian 2.0%
Multiracial 2.4%

Source: NCES CCD School Membership 2024-25.

Student-body diversity

Average diversity index 17.0/100

Average Simpson diversity index across Santa Barbara County Office of Education's schools, below the California average of 46.0.

Most mixed schools

  1. 1 Santa Barbara County Special Education 25.8
  2. 2 Santa Barbara County Juvenile Court 17.9
  3. 3 Santa Barbara County Community 7.1

Programs & Resources

52.0%
Chronically Absent

Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.

Schools in Santa Barbara County Office of Education

School Enrollment
Santa Barbara County Special Education
49
Santa Barbara County Juvenile Court
31
Santa Barbara County Community
27

How Santa Barbara County Office of Education Compares to Similar-Size Districts

The California districts closest to this one in total enrollment.

District Enrollment Spending Funding Mix
Glacier High School Charter District Similar size No spending data Less locally funded
Tree of Life Charter District Similar size No spending data Less locally funded
Mendocino County Office of Education Similar size No spending data Less locally funded
Pivot Charter School North Valley Ii District Similar size No spending data Less locally funded
Monarch Learning Center District Similar size No spending data Less locally funded

Comparisons are relative to Santa Barbara County Office of Education's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.

Nearby Districts in California

Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.

Los Angeles Unified
427,795 students · 785 schools · $21,940/pupil
Compare vs Santa Barbara County Office of Education →
San Diego Unified
93,893 students · 175 schools · $18,665/pupil
Compare vs Santa Barbara County Office of Education →
Fresno Unified
69,668 students · 101 schools · $18,783/pupil
Compare vs Santa Barbara County Office of Education →
Long Beach Unified
65,554 students · 84 schools · $16,028/pupil
Compare vs Santa Barbara County Office of Education →
Elk Grove Unified
62,061 students · 67 schools · $14,134/pupil
Compare vs Santa Barbara County Office of Education →

Compare Santa Barbara County Office of Education

See how this district compares to others in enrollment, spending, demographics, and academic resources.

Compare vs Los Angeles Unified →

Frequently Asked Questions

How many schools are in Santa Barbara County Office of Education?

Santa Barbara County Office of Education has 3 schools, including 3 combined. Total enrollment is 86 students.

What is the demographic composition of Santa Barbara County Office of Education?

Santa Barbara County Office of Education students are 90.8% Hispanic or Latino, 4.8% White, 2.0% Asian, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.