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.
Sonora, California - 3 schools
An equity score of 40/100 ranks Sonora Union High #1018 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,368 per pupil, Sonora Union High ranks #1120 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,087
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$14,368
Per-Pupil Spending
High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Sonora Union High operates 3 public schools serving 1,087 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 high 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 Tuolumne County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,368 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 68.9% local, 20.6% state, and 10.6% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers. The district's equity score is 40/100, ranked #1018 of 1517 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.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (9 AP courses district-wide), a 168.7:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 59.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 70.2% White, 19.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.7% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Sonora High, with a diversity index of 55.1/100.
Its largest campus is Sonora High, enrolling 880 students (89% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Dario Cassina High, at 44 students, a 20x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Sonora High accounts for 81.0% of all Sonora Union High student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Sonora Union High a distant remainder — means Sonora Union High-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. 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.
Sonora Union High school enrollment varies 20× across entities
Sonora Union High school enrollment ranges from 44 students (lowest) to 880 students (highest), a spread of 836 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Sonora Union High student-counselor ratio is 169:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Sonora Union High chronic absenteeism rate is 59.1% — 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.
Sonora Union High has 3 schools, including 3 high. Total enrollment is 1,087 students.
How much does Sonora Union High spend per student?
Sonora Union High spends $14,368 per student. The district has an equity score of 40/100, ranking #1018 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Sonora Union High?
Sonora Union High students are 70.2% White, 19.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.7% Asian, 0.3% African American, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Sonora Union High?
Sonora Union High has an equity score of 40/100, ranking #1018 out of 1517 districts in California.