Enrollment
288
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Buttonwillow, CA
Buttonwillow Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Buttonwillow Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 24/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 060672000594
👥 S:T ratio 42
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Buttonwillow Elementary earns 24/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 90% of California schools. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most California schools.
- 24
- Resource Index · Lower
- 14.4:1
- small classes for California
- 85.3%
- free-lunch eligible
- 288
- students enrolled
Buttonwillow Elementary has class sizes smaller than 90% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Buttonwillow Union Elementary · California
NCES ID 060672000594 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
20.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
14.4:1
vs 21.5:1 California avg
-33% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
85.3%
vs 55.5% California avg
+54% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Buttonwillow Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians
What stands out at Buttonwillow Elementary
Buttonwillow Elementary is a high-poverty, mid-sized elementary school in Buttonwillow, California, enrolling 288 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 14.4:1, Buttonwillow Elementary is leaner than roughly 90% of California schools and 33% under the state's 21.5:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Economic need is high: 85.3% of students qualify for free meals, 54% above the California average, a Title I-weighted population that federal funding formulas prioritise.
Enrollment of 288 puts it in the smaller third of California schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 9,998 scored California schools.
Against 922 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #630.
Its student body is predominantly Hispanic or Latino (94% of enrollment), among the less diverse in the state (diversity index 12/100).
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 59.7% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 16.9% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Buttonwillow Union Elementary operates only this one school, so Buttonwillow Elementary has no district-mates to compare against locally.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Buttonwillow Elementary compares
Buttonwillow Elementary on the metrics families compare, against California and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs California | California avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 14.4:1 | ▼ 33% | 21.5:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 85.3% | ▲ 54% | 55.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 288 | top 75% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
14.4:1
Leaner classes than 53% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
288
Bigger than 31% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
85.3%
free-lunch eligible
- 54% above the California average of 55.5%
Well above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold, among the highest-need profiles in the state; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
14.4:1
students per teacher
- 33% below state mean
Top 10% in California - lower ratio than 90% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
59.7%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$18,506
per pupil, district-wide
- above California avg of $16,509
Somewhat above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
7
in-school suspensions + 7 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 2.4 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 4.9 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 93.8%
White 4.5%
African American 1.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.3%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 93.8% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 11.8/100
Simpson diversity index - at 11.8, Buttonwillow Elementary is less mixed than the California school average of 46.0.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Buttonwillow Union Elementary, which includes Buttonwillow Elementary.
$18,506
Per student
+12%
vs California
Avg $16,509
+12%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 24.3%
State 58.8%
Federal 16.9%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Similar elementary schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of California, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~288 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~14.4:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Buttonwillow Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Buttonwillow Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Buttonwillow Union Elementary's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Buttonwillow Elementary
How many students attend Buttonwillow Elementary?
Buttonwillow Elementary has 288 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Buttonwillow, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Buttonwillow Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Buttonwillow Elementary is 14.4:1, which is 33% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 8% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Buttonwillow Elementary?
85.3% of students at Buttonwillow Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Buttonwillow Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Buttonwillow Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 93.8% of enrollment, in Buttonwillow, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Buttonwillow Elementary?
Buttonwillow Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 24/100 (lower reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Buttonwillow Elementary a good school?
Buttonwillow Elementary earns 24/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 90% of California schools. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most California schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Buttonwillow Union Elementary?
None reported; Buttonwillow Union Elementary operates only Buttonwillow Elementary as a public school district in NCES's records.
Related tools
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. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.