Enrollment
246
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Litchfield, CA
Shaffer Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Shaffer Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 22/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 063642006200
👥 S:T ratio 0
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 35
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Shaffer Elementary earns 22/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 90% of California schools.
- 22
- Resource Index · Lower
- 27.3:1
- large classes for California
- 50.7%
- free-lunch eligible
- 246
- students enrolled
Shaffer Elementary has class sizes larger than 90% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Shaffer Union Elementary · California
NCES ID 063642006200 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
9.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
27.3:1
vs 21.5:1 California avg
+27% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
50.7%
vs 55.5% California avg
-9% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Shaffer Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians
What stands out at Shaffer Elementary
Shaffer Elementary is a higher-need, mid-sized elementary school in Litchfield, California, enrolling 246 students.
Class loads run heavy: 27.3:1 is larger than about 90% of California schools and 27% above the 21.5:1 state mean, so each teacher carries more students than is typical.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 50.7% lands close to the California typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
Enrollment of 246 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.
Among 639 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need California schools statewide, it ranks #493, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is led by White (68%) and Hispanic or Latino (21%) (diversity index 48/100).
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 26.0% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 21.0% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Shaffer Union Elementary operates only this one school, so Shaffer 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 Shaffer Elementary compares
Shaffer 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 | 27.3:1 | ▲ 27% | 21.5:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 50.7% | ▼ 9% | 55.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 246 | top 79% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
27.3:1
Leaner classes than 3% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
246
Bigger than 25% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
50.7%
free-lunch eligible
- 9% below the California average of 55.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
27.3:1
students per teacher
- 27% above state mean
Top 90% in California - lower ratio than 10% of state schools
Well above 20:1, one of the more stretched staffing loads nationally relative to enrollment.
Engagement
26.0%
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
$14,609
per pupil, district-wide
- below California avg of $16,509
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
6
in-school suspensions + 25 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 2.4 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 12.6 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
White 68.3%
Hispanic or Latino 21.1%
Two or More 6.1%
American Indian / Alaska Native 2.4%
African American 1.6%
Asian 0.4%
Largest group: White at 68.3% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 48.4/100
Simpson diversity index - at 48.4, Shaffer Elementary is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Shaffer Union Elementary, which includes Shaffer Elementary.
$14,609
Per student
-12%
vs California
Avg $16,509
-12%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 21.4%
State 57.6%
Federal 21.0%
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 (~246 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~27.3:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Shaffer Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Shaffer Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Shaffer 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 Shaffer Elementary
How many students attend Shaffer Elementary?
Shaffer Elementary has 246 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Litchfield, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Shaffer Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Shaffer Elementary is 27.3:1, which is 27% higher than the California average of 21.5:1 and 74% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Shaffer Elementary?
50.7% of students at Shaffer Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Shaffer Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Shaffer Elementary is White at 68.3% of enrollment, in Litchfield, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Shaffer Elementary?
Shaffer Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 22/100 (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 Shaffer Elementary a good school?
Shaffer Elementary earns 22/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 90% of 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 Shaffer Union Elementary?
None reported; Shaffer Union Elementary operates only Shaffer 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.