Portola-Butler Continuation High

Public Monterey County 🏛 South Monterey County Joint Union High → CDS 2766068…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Pinnacles High School → San Andreas Continuation High → Shandon High School → San Luis High (continuation) → Diamond Technology Institute → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Portola-Butler Continuation 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)
52 (2018)75 (2026)
+44.2%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
30 (2018)54 (2026)
+80.0%

If this trend holds (+4.7%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~79 +4 $0
3 yr (2029) ~86 +11 $0
5 yr (2031) ~94 +19 $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 Monterey County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Mixed signal
Demand outpacing county is masking internal churn.

Enrollment growth is beating Monterey County (+80.0% vs. +9.8%), but 131 of 183 students didn't maintain continuous enrollment. Why are families leaving once enrolled? Chronic absenteeism is also at 64.0% (up +10.5 pts from 2016-17) — engagement and demand are both signaling decline.

+80.0%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
+9.8%  Monterey County baseline
+70.2pp  gap vs. county
28.4%  retention (county median 89.2%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
28.4%
52 of 183 students

131 of 183 students who enrolled at Portola-Butler Continuation High this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (71.6% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Monterey County median
89.2% · school is in the 5th percentile of 22 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 5th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Hispanic / Latino (172) 29.1%
Socio. disadvantaged (168) 29.2%
English learners (43) 25.6%
Students w/ disabilities (32) 25.0%

Nearest peer high schools

Pinnacles High School 36.4% San Andreas Continuation High 49.6% Shandon High School 86.4% San Luis High (continuation) 31.8% Diamond Technology Institute 93.2%

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
64.0%
112 of 175 students

Absenteeism is up 10.5 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Monterey County median
17.5% · school is worse than 86% of 22 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 = 32
18.8%
incl. 6.2% exceeded
-31.8 pts vs. Monterey County median (50.5%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 30
6.7%
incl. 3.3% exceeded
-10.7 pts vs. Monterey County median (17.4%) · 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

Hispanic / Latino 93% -5.0
White 4% +2.3
Black / African Am. 1%
Not reported 1%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 89% +18.1
Socioeconomically disadv. 17%
English learners 16%

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 — South Monterey County Joint 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
$51.5M
+51.3% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$19,356
2,659 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 58.8%
Local: 24.7%
Federal: 16.5%
Instruction share
57.0%
of current spending · $7,966/pupil
Long-term debt
$49.2M
+231.3% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 South Monterey County Joint 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).

Portola-Butler Continuation High — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • Senior-class enrollment is up 80% (30→54 from 2018 to 2026), outpacing the peer-group median of +32%.
  • Enrollment has been growing (+4.7%/yr); projects to ~86 by 2029.

Enrollment projection

75 students (2026)
~86 projected (2029)
at +4.7%/yr

Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools

School Type Size UC Reach Enroll. trend
Portola-Butler Continuation High Public 75 +80%
Peer-group median +32%
Pinnacles High School Public 50 +50%
San Andreas Continuation High Public 75 -5%
Shandon High School Public 73 +10%
San Luis High (continuation) Public 80 -33%
Diamond Technology Institute Public 89 +200%
Westside High Public 62 +25%
Central Coast High School Public 98 +40%
Templeton Independent Study Hs Public 99 +65%
Open Door Charter Public 49 +78%
Paloma Creek High Public 45 -33%

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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