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Ventura, California - 27 schools
An equity score of 35/100 ranks Ventura Unified #1132 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,481 per pupil, Ventura Unified ranks #1095 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
14,980
Total Enrollment
27
Schools
$14,481
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Ventura Unified operates 27 public schools serving 14,980 students, placing it in the mid-size range in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 18 elementary, 5 high, 4 middle schools, giving families a clear picture of grade-band coverage 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 Ventura County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,481 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 40.6% local, 48.9% state, and 10.4% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 35/100, ranked #1132 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 4 of 27 schools offering Advanced Placement (55 AP courses district-wide), a 424.1:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 34.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 55.2% Hispanic or Latino, 35.5% White, 3.2% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Mound Elementary, with a diversity index of 67.8/100.
Its largest campus is Ventura High, enrolling 1,939 students (14% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Homestead (Alternative), at 52 students, a 37x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Ventura Unified school enrollment varies 37× across entities
Ventura Unified school enrollment ranges from 52 students (lowest) to 1,939 students (highest), a spread of 1,887 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme enrollment heterogeneity, the district operates both small specialty programs and large comprehensive campuses inside a single budgeting unit. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Ventura Unified student-counselor ratio is 424:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
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.
Ventura Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 34.7% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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.