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Taft, California - 6 schools
An equity score of 40/100 ranks Taft City #1013 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,437 per pupil, Taft City ranks #1339 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,402
Total Enrollment
6
Schools
$13,437
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Taft City operates 6 public schools serving 2,402 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 5 elementary, 1 middle 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 Kern County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,437 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 25.8% local, 63.6% state, and 10.6% 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 40/100, ranked #1013 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.
and 54.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 75.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% White, 0.8% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Parkview Elementary, with a diversity index of 50.0/100.
Its largest campus is Lincoln Junior High, enrolling 748 students (31% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Taft Primary, at 231 students, a 3x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Lincoln Junior High accounts for 31.1% of all Taft City student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Taft City-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: middle. 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.
Taft City school enrollment varies 3.2× across entities
Taft City school enrollment ranges from 231 students (lowest) to 748 students (highest), a spread of 517 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Taft City has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 82.2% 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). Areas above 75% eligibility — including this one — receive concentration grants on top of the basic Title I formula. 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.
Taft City chronic absenteeism rate is 54.1% — 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.
Taft City has 6 schools, including 1 middle, 5 elementary. Total enrollment is 2,402 students.
How much does Taft City spend per student?
Taft City spends $13,437 per student. The district has an equity score of 40/100, ranking #1013 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Taft City?
Taft City students are 75.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% White, 0.8% African American, 0.5% Asian, averaged across 6 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Taft City?
Taft City has an equity score of 40/100, ranking #1013 out of 1517 districts in California.