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, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.
Santee, California - 11 schools
An equity score of 36/100 ranks Santee #1095 of 1526 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,532 per pupil, Santee ranks #1470 of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
Santee operates 11 public schools serving 6,151 students, placing it among the smaller districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 11 elementary schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in San Diego County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,532 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 35.8% local, 54.5% state, and 9.7% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles. The district's equity score is 36/100, ranked #1095 of 1526 in California against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 501.7:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 34.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 49.2% White, 33.1% Hispanic or Latino, 4.3% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Pride Academy at Prospect Avenue, with a diversity index of 66.8/100.
Its largest campus is Rio Seco Elementary, enrolling 913 students (15% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Santee Success Program, at 5 students, a 183x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Santee school enrollment ranges from 5 students (lowest) to 913 students (highest), a spread of 908 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted 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.
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
This district scores below average on funding equity. High reliance on local revenue or lower spending may contribute.
Average demographic composition across 11 schools in Santee.
Source: NCES CCD School Membership 2024-25.
Average Simpson diversity index across Santee's schools, above the California average of 46.0.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.
| School | Enrollment |
|---|---|
| Rio Seco Elementary | 913 |
| Cajon Park Elementary | 830 |
| Carlton Oaks Elementary | 823 |
| Hill Creek Elementary | 695 |
| Pepper Drive Elementary | 661 |
| Chet F. Harritt Elementary | 606 |
| Carlton Hills Elementary | 601 |
| Pride Academy at Prospect Avenue | 548 |
| Sycamore Canyon Elementary | 373 |
| Santee Alternative | 11 |
| Santee Success Program | 5 |
The California districts closest to this one in total enrollment.
| District | Enrollment | Spending | Funding Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patterson Joint Unified | Similar size | Similar spending | Similar funding mix |
| Delano Union Elementary | Similar size | Higher spending | Less locally funded |
| Campbell Union | Similar size | Higher spending | More locally funded |
| Rosedale Union Elementary | Similar size | Similar spending | Similar funding mix |
| Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified | Similar size | Similar spending | More locally funded |
Comparisons are relative to Santee's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
Out-of-state peers matched by enrollment and by per-pupil expenditure, not the same-state lists above.
See how this district compares to others in enrollment, spending, demographics, and academic resources.
Compare vs Los Angeles Unified →Santee has 11 schools, including 11 elementary. Total enrollment is 6,151 students.
Santee spends $14,532 per student. The district has an equity score of 36/100, ranking #1095 in California.
Santee students are 49.2% White, 33.1% Hispanic or Latino, 4.3% Asian, 1.4% African American, averaged across 11 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
Santee has an equity score of 36/100, ranking #1095 out of 1526 districts in California.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.