Enrollment
815
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 062037002454
Laguna Beach High — Laguna Beach, CA
Federal NCES profile for Laguna Beach High, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 51/100.
👥 Class size 27
📚 AP courses 85
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 46
📋 Attendance 26
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
School address
District: Laguna Beach Unified · California
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Teachers (FTE)
51.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
18.2:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-16% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
14.2%
vs 55.5% California avg
-74% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Laguna Beach High compares with California and U.S. medians
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Laguna Beach High reports 815 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 51.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 18.2:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 16% below the California state mean of 21.6:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 14% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 14.2% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 74% below the California average and 73% below the national baseline. The school offers 17 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 272 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 29.7% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Laguna Beach Unified spends $29,407 per pupil district-wide, above the California average of $18,039 and above the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 86.1% from local sources (property taxes), 9.4% from the state, and 4.6% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 51/100 (C-), calculated from 5 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Laguna Beach High compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against California state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs California | California avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 18.2:1 | ▼ 16% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 14.2% | ▼ 74% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 815 | top 83% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
14.2%
free-lunch eligible
— 74% 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
18.2:1
students per teacher
— 16% below state mean
Top 18% in California — lower ratio than 82% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
29.7%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Chronic absenteeism at or above 20% — the CDC threshold for "high" — signals significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$29,407
per pupil, district-wide
— above California avg of $18,039
Above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors3.0 FTE
Per 272 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
11
in-school suspensions + 28 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 1.3 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 4.8 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 815 Top 83% in California — larger than 17% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 51.0
Students per teacher 18.2:1 -16% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 14.2% -74% vs state
NCES ID 062037002454
Student demographics
White 73.0%
Hispanic or Latino 11.3%
Two or More 8.2%
Asian 7.0%
African American 0.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.1%
Largest group: White at 73.0% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 17
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 3.0
Students per counselor 272:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 29.7%
In-school suspensions 11
Out-of-school suspensions 28
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Laguna Beach Unified, which includes Laguna Beach High.
$29,407
Per student
+63%
vs California
Avg $18,039
+51%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 86.1%
State 9.4%
Federal 4.6%
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.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 536
- Students per teacher
- 20.6:1
- Enrollment
- 524
- Students per teacher
- 16.3:1
- Enrollment
- 404
- Students per teacher
- 18.1:1
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Laguna Beach High
How many students attend Laguna Beach High?
Laguna Beach High has 815 students enrolled. It is a high school in Laguna Beach, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Laguna Beach High?
The student-teacher ratio at Laguna Beach High is 18.2:1, which is 16% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 14% higher than the national average of 15.9:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Laguna Beach High?
14.2% of students at Laguna Beach High are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Laguna Beach High?
The largest demographic group at Laguna Beach High is White at 73.0%. The school serves a diverse student body in Laguna Beach, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Laguna Beach High?
Laguna Beach High has a Resource Investment Index of 51/100 (C-) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.