Enrollment
185
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Cayucos, CA
Cayucos Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Cayucos Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 27/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 060784007271
👥 S:T ratio 47
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 8
📋 Attendance 24
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Cayucos Elementary earns 27/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 92% of California schools.
- 27
- Resource Index · Lower
- 13.2:1
- small classes for California
- 36.8%
- free-lunch eligible
- 185
- students enrolled
Cayucos Elementary has class sizes smaller than 92% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Cayucos Elementary · California
NCES ID 060784007271 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
14.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
13.2:1
vs 21.5:1 California avg
-39% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
36.8%
vs 55.5% California avg
-34% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Cayucos Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians
What stands out at Cayucos Elementary
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Cayucos Elementary sits near the smaller end of the California enrollment distribution while also reporting a lower student-teacher ratio than most state schools. That pairing is consistent with a compact, teacher-dense setting, though small scale can limit the number of specialized courses or support roles a campus can sustain. The program and staffing sections below show whether the lean ratio extends beyond classroom teachers into broader student services.
Lower measured need does not translate into broad resources
Cayucos Elementary's free-meal eligibility sits below much of the California distribution, yet its Resource Investment Index also lands in the lower tier. That breaks the common assumption that a lower-need intake automatically produces stronger reported capacity. The component scores below are therefore more useful than a socioeconomic shortcut: staffing, counselors, gifted access, and attendance determine where the composite is being lost.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Cayucos Elementary's 30.3% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Cayucos Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school in Cayucos, California, enrolling 185 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 13.2:1, Cayucos Elementary is leaner than roughly 92% of California schools and 39% under the state's 21.5:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Economic need runs somewhat below the state's typical profile, with 36.8% of students eligible for free meals.
Enrollment of 185 puts it in the smaller third of California schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 9,998 scored California schools.
Among 331 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need California schools statewide, it ranks #242, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is led by White (63%) and Hispanic or Latino (28%) (diversity index 52/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 463 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 30.3% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Cayucos Elementary spends $24,500 per pupil, 48% above the California average, a better-resourced district than most.
Cayucos Elementary operates only this one school, so Cayucos 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 Cayucos Elementary compares
Cayucos 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 | 13.2:1 | ▼ 39% | 21.5:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 36.8% | ▼ 34% | 55.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 185 | top 84% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
13.2:1
Leaner classes than 65% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
185
Bigger than 18% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
36.8%
free-lunch eligible
- 34% below the California average of 55.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
13.2:1
students per teacher
- 39% below state mean
Top 8% in California - lower ratio than 92% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
30.3%
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
$24,500
per pupil, district-wide
- above California avg of $16,509
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.4 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
1
in-school suspensions + 4 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.5 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.7 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 62.7%
Hispanic or Latino 27.6%
Two or More 9.2%
African American 0.5%
Largest group: White at 62.7% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 52.2/100
Simpson diversity index - at 52.2, Cayucos Elementary is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Cayucos Elementary, which includes Cayucos Elementary.
$24,500
Per student
+48%
vs California
Avg $16,509
+48%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 76.7%
State 10.8%
Federal 12.5%
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 (~185 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~13.2:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Cayucos Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Cayucos Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Cayucos 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 Cayucos Elementary
How many students attend Cayucos Elementary?
Cayucos Elementary has 185 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Cayucos, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cayucos Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Cayucos Elementary is 13.2:1, which is 39% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 16% 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 Cayucos Elementary?
36.8% of students at Cayucos Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Cayucos Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Cayucos Elementary is White at 62.7% of enrollment, in Cayucos, CA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 52.2/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Cayucos Elementary?
Cayucos Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 27/100 (lower reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in Cayucos Elementary?
None reported; Cayucos Elementary operates only Cayucos 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 July 2026.