Enrollment
729
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Middle school (grades 6-8) NCES 062088002512
Piute Middle — Lancaster, CA
Federal NCES profile for Piute Middle, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 38/100.
👥 Class size 30
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 50
📋 Attendance 0
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: Lancaster 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)
42.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
17.4:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-19% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
91.0%
vs 55.5% California avg
+64% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Piute Middle 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
Piute Middle reports 729 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 42.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 17.4:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 19% 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 9% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 91.0% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 64% above the California average and 76% above the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 250 students per counselor, meeting the American School Counselor Association recommendation of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 60.5% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Lancaster Elementary spends $17,361 per pupil district-wide, below the California average of $18,039 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 16.4% from local sources (property taxes), 64.4% from the state, and 19.3% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 38/100 (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 Piute Middle 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 | 17.4:1 | ▼ 19% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 91.0% | ▲ 64% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 729 | top 78% | — | — |
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
91.0%
free-lunch eligible
— 64% above the California average of 55.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
17.4:1
students per teacher
— 19% below state mean
Top 15% in California — lower ratio than 85% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
60.5%
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
$17,361
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
Counselors2.9 FTE
Per 250 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 89 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 12.2 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 2 expulsions.
Overview
Enrollment 729 Top 78% in California — larger than 22% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 42.0
Students per teacher 17.4:1 -19% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 91.0% +64% vs state
NCES ID 062088002512
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 63.6%
African American 26.7%
White 4.7%
Two or More 3.6%
Asian 0.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.1%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 63.6% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 2.9
Students per counselor 250:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 60.5%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 89
Expulsions 2
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Lancaster Elementary, which includes Piute Middle.
$17,361
Per student
-4%
vs California
Avg $18,039
-11%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 16.4%
State 64.4%
Federal 19.3%
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
- 859
- Students per teacher
- 20.7:1
- Enrollment
- 835
- Students per teacher
- 21.5:1
- Enrollment
- 805
- Students per teacher
- 20.5:1
- Enrollment
- 788
- Students per teacher
- 27.3:1
- Enrollment
- 766
- Students per teacher
- 26:1
Similar middle schools in Lancaster
6 comparable middle schools (grades 6-8) serving the same city.
Amargosa Creek Middle
Standard public school
859 students 20.7:1 students per teacher
New Vista Middle
Standard public school
835 students 21.5:1 students per teacher
Endeavour Middle
Standard public school
805 students 20.5:1 students per teacher
Joe Walker Middle
Standard public school
781 students 23.7:1 students per teacher
Gifford C. Cole Middle
Standard public school
697 students 20.7:1 students per teacher
Fulton and Alsbury Academy of Arts and Engineering
Standard public school
414 students 32.2:1 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 Piute Middle
How many students attend Piute Middle?
Piute Middle has 729 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Lancaster, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Piute Middle?
The student-teacher ratio at Piute Middle is 17.4:1, which is 19% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 9% 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 Piute Middle?
91.0% of students at Piute Middle are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Piute Middle?
The largest demographic group at Piute Middle is Hispanic or Latino at 63.6%. The school serves a diverse student body in Lancaster, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Piute Middle?
Piute Middle has a Resource Investment Index of 38/100 (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.