Cuyama Valley High

· Santa Barbara County · Cuyama Joint Unified
Public Santa Barbara County 🏛 Cuyama Joint Unified → CDS 4275010…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Buena Vista High (continuation) → Maricopa High School → La Cuesta Continuation High → Central Valley High (continuation) → Nueva Continuation High → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Cuyama Valley High.

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)
50 (2018)56 (2026)
+12.0%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
12 (2018)12 (2026)
+0.0%

If this trend holds (+1.4%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~57 +1 $0
3 yr (2029) ~58 +2 $0
5 yr (2031) ~60 +4 $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 Santa Barbara County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Action needed
Demand declining faster than county; retention only average.

Enrollment is shrinking faster than Santa Barbara County (school +0.0% vs. county +3.2%) with stability (90.0%) near the county median. Two problems compounding — the recruitment side is the higher-leverage starting point.

+0.0%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
+3.2%  Santa Barbara County baseline
-3.2pp  gap vs. county
90.0%  retention (county median 89.1%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
90.0%
54 of 60 students

6 of 60 students who enrolled at Cuyama Valley High this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (10.0% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Santa Barbara County median
89.1% · school is in the 62nd percentile of 13 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 65th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (51) 90.2%
Hispanic / Latino (48) 91.7%

Nearest peer high schools

Buena Vista High (continuation) 30.8% Maricopa High School 66.7% La Cuesta Continuation High 29.9% Central Valley High (continuation) 42.5% Nueva Continuation High 30.3%

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
15.0%
9 of 60 students

Absenteeism is down 5.3 pp since 2016-17. Engagement improving — a positive trajectory worth understanding and reinforcing.

Santa Barbara County median
22.5% · school is better than 100% of 13 HS
Statewide median
22.9%
Chronic absenteeism by year (raw %)

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).

SBAC academic outcomes — grade 11, 2024

Share of grade-11 students meeting or exceeding the California standard on Smarter Balanced ELA and Math. This is the academic-readiness signal that pairs with UC Reach (post-grad outcomes), stability (retention), and absenteeism (engagement). Note: statewide median Math is only ~20% — a school at 20% isn't an outlier; one at 45%+ genuinely is.

ELA — met or exceeded
n = 15
46.7%
incl. 6.7% exceeded
+1.8 pts above Santa Barbara County median (44.9%) · CA median 52.4% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 78.4%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 15
6.7%
incl. 0.0% exceeded
-16.5 pts vs. Santa Barbara County median (23.2%) · CA median 18.5% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 52.1%

Source: California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Smarter Balanced research files. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥30 tested students.

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 79%
White 20% -1.0
Two or more 2%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 52% -32.3

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 — Cuyama 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
$4.3M
-27.3% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$23,502
183 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 39.7%
Local: 51.0%
Federal: 9.3%
Instruction share
52.0%
of current spending · $9,393/pupil
Long-term debt
$3.9M
Total revenue by year ($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 Cuyama 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).

Cuyama Valley High — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • Senior-class enrollment is up 0% (12→12 from 2018 to 2026), outpacing the peer-group median of -18%.
  • Enrollment has been growing (+1.4%/yr); projects to ~58 by 2029.

Enrollment projection

56 students (2026)
~58 projected (2029)
at +1.4%/yr

Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools

School Type Size UC Reach Enroll. trend
Cuyama Valley High Public 56 +0%
Peer-group median -18%
Buena Vista High (continuation) Public 73 +31%
Maricopa High School Public 78 -43%
La Cuesta Continuation High Public 69 -17%
Central Valley High (continuation) Public 70 -4%
Nueva Continuation High Public 80 -55%
Lopez Continuation High Public 86 -18%
Legacy High Public 30 -40%
Valley Oak Charter Public 107 -78%
Wasco Independence High Public 108 -8%
Maple High Public 129 +150%

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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