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.
Tulare, California - 18 schools
An equity score of 59/100 ranks Tulare City #528 of 1526 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,574 per pupil, Tulare City ranks #1263 of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
Tulare City operates 18 public schools serving 9,172 students, placing it among the smaller districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 14 elementary, 4 middle 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 Tulare County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,574 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 10.4% local, 72.6% state, and 17.0% 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 59/100, ranked #528 of 1526 in California against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 487.5:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 39.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 79.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.5% White, 3.6% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Tulare Support, with a diversity index of 67.6/100.
Its largest campus is Mulcahy Middle, enrolling 745 students (8% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Tulare City Community Day, at 4 students, a 186x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Enrollment across the district's NCES-reporting campuses held roughly steady from 2022-23 to 2023-24 (9,169 to 9,252 students, +0.9%), per the NCES Common Core of Data annual universe files.
Of the district's $150,430,000 in reported FY2023 expenditures, 58.4% went to instruction, 31.3% to support services, and 3.2% to capital outlay, a fairly typical instruction/support/capital split for a public school district. Figures come from the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey's function-level breakdown, not the aggregate per-pupil figure above.
Tulare City school enrollment ranges from 4 students (lowest) to 745 students (highest), a spread of 741 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
The reported share is at least 75%, indicating a high concentration of measured economic need. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
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 has moderate funding equity. There may be room to improve funding diversity or resource allocation.
Average demographic composition across 18 schools in Tulare City.
Source: NCES CCD School Membership 2024-25.
Average Simpson diversity index across Tulare City's schools, below the California average of 46.0.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.
| School | Enrollment |
|---|---|
| Mulcahy Middle | 745 |
| Garden Elementary | 689 |
| Mission Valley Elementary | 671 |
| Pleasant Elementary | 668 |
| Alpine Vista | 659 |
| Frank Kohn Elementary | 617 |
| Alpine Vista Middle | 617 |
| Heritage Elementary | 597 |
| Maple Elementary | 574 |
| Los Tules Middle | 569 |
| Cypress Elementary | 562 |
| Roosevelt Elementary | 561 |
| Wilson Elementary | 487 |
| Cherry Avenue Middle | 483 |
| Live Oak Middle | 458 |
| Lincoln Elementary | 309 |
| Tulare Support | 19 |
| Tulare City Community Day | 4 |
The California districts closest to this one in total enrollment.
| District | Enrollment | Spending | Funding Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenfield Union | Similar size | Similar spending | Similar funding mix |
| Castro Valley Unified | Similar size | Similar spending | More locally funded |
| Saugus Union | Similar size | Similar spending | More locally funded |
| Santa Maria Joint Union High | Similar size | Similar spending | More locally funded |
| Monterey Peninsula Unified | Similar size | Similar spending | More locally funded |
Comparisons are relative to Tulare City'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 →Tulare City has 18 schools, including 14 elementary, 4 middle. Total enrollment is 9,172 students.
Tulare City spends $15,574 per student. The district has an equity score of 59/100, ranking #528 in California.
Tulare City students are 79.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.5% White, 3.6% African American, 1.6% Asian, averaged across 18 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
Tulare City has an equity score of 59/100, ranking #528 out of 1526 districts in California.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.