Independence High

· Contra Costa County · Liberty Union High
Public Contra Costa County 🏛 Liberty Union High → CDS 0761721…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

La Paloma High (continuation) → Bidwell Continuation High → Live Oak High (continuation) → Black Diamond High (continuation) → Village Oaks High → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Independence 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)
252 (2018)147 (2026)
-41.7%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
169 (2018)74 (2026)
-56.2%

If this trend holds (-6.5%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~137 -10 $0
3 yr (2029) ~120 -27 $0
5 yr (2031) ~105 -42 $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 Contra Costa 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 -56.2% vs. county -3.2% AND stability (53.7%) below the county median. Recruitment and retention both under pressure — likely a foundational rather than tactical problem.

-56.2%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
-3.2%  Contra Costa County baseline
-53.0pp  gap vs. county
53.7%  retention (county median 89.5%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
53.7%
131 of 244 students

113 of 244 students who enrolled at Independence High this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (46.3% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Contra Costa County median
89.5% · school is in the 20th percentile of 45 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 19th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

White (102) 50.0%
Socio. disadvantaged (87) 47.1%
Hispanic / Latino (85) 60.0%
Students w/ disabilities (29) 58.6%
Black / African Am. (21) 52.4%

Nearest peer high schools

La Paloma High (continuation) 52.7% Bidwell Continuation High 37.0% Live Oak High (continuation) 37.6% Black Diamond High (continuation) 37.2% Village Oaks High 70.0%

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
0.0%
0 of 234 students

Absenteeism is down 62.2 pp since 2016-17. Engagement improving — a positive trajectory worth understanding and reinforcing.

Contra Costa County median
22.1% · school is better than 100% of 45 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, 2025

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 = 65
46.1%
incl. 20.0% exceeded
-5.6 pts vs. Contra Costa County median (51.8%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 65
7.7%
incl. 4.6% exceeded
-15.3 pts vs. Contra Costa County median (23.0%) · CA median 21.1% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 53.6%

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

White 43% -2.1
Hispanic / Latino 35%
Asian 6% +3.7
Black / African Am. 6% -1.6
Two or more 6% +1.4
Filipino 1%
Pacific Islander 1%
American Indian 1% -1.7

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 17% -12.6
Socioeconomically disadv. 8% -8.5

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 — Liberty Union High (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
$133.3M
+23.4% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$16,216
8,222 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 46.1%
Local: 48.3%
Federal: 5.6%
Instruction share
61.7%
of current spending · $8,015/pupil
Long-term debt
$148.0M
+45.6% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Liberty Union High 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).

Independence High — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • Senior-class enrollment is down 56% (169→74 from 2018 to 2026), trailing the peer-group median of -10%.
  • At its recent rate (-6.5%/yr), enrollment projects to ~120 by 2029 — about 27 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

147 students (2026)
~120 projected (2029)
at -6.5%/yr

That's about 27 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
Independence High Public 147 -56%
Peer-group median -10%
La Paloma High (continuation) Public 144 -5%
Bidwell Continuation High Public 147 -14%
Live Oak High (continuation) Public 155 +20%
Black Diamond High (continuation) Public 178 -34%
Village Oaks High Public 157 +7%
Prospects High (alternative) Public 271 -30%
Golden Gate Community School Public 74 -38%
Olympic Continuation High Public 221 -7%
Plaza Robles Continuation High Public 104 +6%
George And Evelyn Stein Continuation Public 95 -24%

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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