Enrollment
464
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Middle school (grades 6-8) NCES 062871004465
Orcutt Junior High — Santa Maria, CA
Federal NCES profile for Orcutt Junior High, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 17/100.
👥 Class size 15
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 7
📋 Attendance 14
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: Orcutt Union Elementary · 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)
22.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
21.3:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-1% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
31.6%
vs 55.5% California avg
-43% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Orcutt Junior 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
Orcutt Junior High reports 464 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 22.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 21.3:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 1% 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 34% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 31.6% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 43% below the California average and 39% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 464 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 34.3% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Orcutt Union Elementary spends $14,843 per pupil district-wide, below the California average of $18,039 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 37.2% from local sources (property taxes), 55.5% from the state, and 7.4% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 17/100 (F), calculated from 4 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 Orcutt Junior 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 | 21.3:1 | ▼ 1% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 31.6% | ▼ 43% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 464 | top 50% | — | — |
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
31.6%
free-lunch eligible
— 43% 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
21.3:1
students per teacher
— 1% below state mean
Top 42% in California — lower ratio than 58% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
34.3%
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
$14,843
per pupil, district-wide
— below California avg of $18,039
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 464 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 39 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 8.4 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 464 Top 50% in California — larger than 50% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 22.0
Students per teacher 21.3:1 -1% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 31.6% -43% vs state
NCES ID 062871004465
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 53.7%
White 31.3%
Two or More 10.1%
Asian 2.8%
African American 1.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.4%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 53.7% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Counselors (FTE) 1.0
Students per counselor 464:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 34.3%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 39
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Orcutt Union Elementary, which includes Orcutt Junior High.
$14,843
Per student
-18%
vs California
Avg $18,039
-24%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 37.2%
State 55.5%
Federal 7.4%
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
- 812
- Students per teacher
- 22.6:1
- Enrollment
- 695
- Students per teacher
- 27.7:1
- Enrollment
- 662
- Students per teacher
- 27.8:1
- Enrollment
- 569
- Students per teacher
- 25.5:1
- Enrollment
- 530
- Students per teacher
- 25.6:1
Similar middle schools in Santa Maria
5 comparable middle schools (grades 6-8) serving the same city.
Fesler (Isaac) Junior High
Standard public school
974 students 18.8:1 students per teacher
Kunst (Tommie) Junior High
Standard public school
912 students 18.4:1 students per teacher
El Camino Junior High
Standard public school
830 students 17.3:1 students per teacher
Arellanes Junior High
Standard public school
668 students 19.9:1 students per teacher
Lakeview Junior High
Standard public school
463 students 23.3:1 students per teacher
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 Orcutt Junior High
How many students attend Orcutt Junior High?
Orcutt Junior High has 464 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Santa Maria, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Orcutt Junior High?
The student-teacher ratio at Orcutt Junior High is 21.3:1, which is 1% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 34% 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 Orcutt Junior High?
31.6% of students at Orcutt Junior High are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Orcutt Junior High?
The largest demographic group at Orcutt Junior High is Hispanic or Latino at 53.7%. The school serves a diverse student body in Santa Maria, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Orcutt Junior High?
Orcutt Junior High has a Resource Investment Index of 17/100 (F) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.