Arbuckle Alternative High (continuation)

· Colusa County · Pierce Joint Unified
Public Colusa County 🏛 Pierce Joint Unified → CDS 0661614…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Mid Valley High (continuation) → Coastal Buttes Academy → Madison Community High → Wheatland Community Day High → Colusa Alternative High (continuation) → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Arbuckle Alternative High (continuation).

This school doesn't appear in UCOP's source-school records (it may send few or no applicants to UC). Its enrollment trend and similar-school comparison are still below.

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
10 (2018)5 (2026)
-50.0%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
5 (2018)1 (2026)
-80.0%

If this trend holds (-8.3%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~5 +0 $0
3 yr (2029) ~4 -1 $0
5 yr (2031) ~3 -2 $0

Straight-line extrapolation of the recent annual rate — a what-if, not a forecast of intent. Default = California's LCFF base grant for grades 9–12 ($12,423/ADA). Edit the figure to match your school.

Enrollment stability & demand — 2024-25

Two complementary signals: retention (do students stay once enrolled?) and demand (are families choosing the school?). Read against the Colusa County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Critical
Compounding decline on both vectors.

Enrollment -80.0% vs. county +24.8% AND stability (15.8%) below the county median. Recruitment and retention both under pressure — likely a foundational rather than tactical problem. Chronic absenteeism is also at 61.1% (up +4.8 pts from 2016-17) — engagement and demand are both signaling decline.

-80.0%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
+24.8%  Colusa County baseline
-104.8pp  gap vs. county
15.8%  retention (county median 90.8%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate
15.8%
3 of 19 students

16 of 19 students who enrolled at Arbuckle Alternative High (continuation) this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (84.2% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Colusa County median
90.8% · school is in the 0th percentile of 4 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 1st percentile of 1,688 HS

Nearest peer high schools

Mid Valley High (continuation) 35.7% Coastal Buttes Academy 78.6% Madison Community High 43.8% Wheatland Community Day High 4.3% Colusa Alternative High (continuation) 20.0%

Source: California Department of Education, Stability Rate 2024-25. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥100 cumulative enrollees so by-design-high-churn continuation schools don't dominate the bottom of the distribution. Cumulative enrollment counts every student on the rolls during the year, so it can exceed peak-day enrollment.

Chronic absenteeism — 2024-25

Share of students missing 10% or more of expected attendance — the leading indicator that often precedes the demand decline shown above. Families disengaging tend to raise absenteeism first, then formally leave. Basis: grades 9–12.

Chronic absent
61.1%
11 of 18 students

Absenteeism is up 4.8 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Colusa County median
12.3% · school is worse than 100% of 4 HS
Statewide median
22.9%

Source: California Department of Education, Chronic Absenteeism 2024-25. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥100 eligible students. CDE didn't publish a usable 2019-20 file (COVID).

Student composition — 2025-26

HS grades 9–12 racial/ethnic composition and program subgroups, from CDE Census Day Enrollment. Two-year shift shown when ≥1 pt — surfaces how the community served has changed since 2023-24.

Race / ethnicity

Hispanic / Latino 100% +12.5

Program subgroups

Source: California Department of Education, Census Day Enrollment 2025-26 (HS grades 9–12). Δ shown when shift is ≥1 pt since 2023-24. Categories below 0.5% omitted.

District financial profile — Pierce Joint Unified (FY2020)

From 4 years of NCES F-33 filings (the federally-mandated district finance survey). Public schools don't have their own books — the district does. These figures show the financial scale, revenue dependence, instruction-vs-overhead mix, and long-term debt that shape what a school can sustain.

Total revenue
$25.6M
+36.8% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$17,756
1,443 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 55.6%
Local: 32.0%
Federal: 12.4%
Instruction share
58.9%
of current spending · $7,479/pupil
Long-term debt
$15.6M
-9.2% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($M)
Total expenditure by year ($M)

Source: NCES F-33 Annual Survey of School System Finances (Urban Institute Education Data API). Latest year currently published: FY2020. F-33 is a district-level federal filing — it reflects the Pierce Joint Unified as a whole, not this individual school's books. Revenue mix shows where the district's dollars come from (state aid dominates in CA via LCFF). Instruction share is current expenditure on instruction ÷ total current expenditure (national benchmark ~60%). Long-term debt is end-of-year outstanding (mostly facilities bonds).

Arbuckle Alternative High (continuation) — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • Senior-class enrollment is down 80% (5→1 from 2018 to 2026), trailing the peer-group median of +6%.
  • At its recent rate (-8.3%/yr), enrollment projects to ~4 by 2029 — about 1 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

5 students (2026)
~4 projected (2029)
at -8.3%/yr

That's about 1 fewer students. At per-student funding of $ per student, that's roughly $0 in annual state funding at risk.

Default = California's LCFF base grant for grades 9–12 ($12,423 per ADA) — adjust to your district's actual per-pupil figure. Projection extrapolates the recent annual rate — not a forecast of intent.

Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools

School Type Size UC Reach Enroll. trend
Arbuckle Alternative High (continuation) Public 5 -80%
Peer-group median +6%
Mid Valley High (continuation) Public 7 -62%
Coastal Buttes Academy Public 9 +50%
Madison Community High Public 6 +0%
Wheatland Community Day High Public 7 +0%
Colusa Alternative High (continuation) Public 24 +86%
Butte View High Public 19 +11%
Valley Oak Continuation High Public 17 +25%
S. William Abel Academy Public 39 +20%
Loconoma Valley High Public 14 -20%
Feather River Academy Public 26 -70%

UC Reach = top-6 UC admits ÷ senior class (can exceed 100% when students are admitted to multiple campuses). Enrollment trend = first-to-latest grade-12 change on file. Similar schools matched on proximity, size, type. Methodology →

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