Refugio High
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Most similar nearby schools
Peep - Prepare → Legacy High → La Cuesta Continuation High → Paloma Creek High → Cuyama Valley High → Compare all similar →No UC admissions data on file for Refugio 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
If this trend holds (-3.9%/yr, Total enrollment)
At per-pupil funding of $ / student:
| Horizon | Projected Total enrollment | Change | Funding impact / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yr (2027) | ~8 | +0 | $0 |
| 3 yr (2029) | ~7 | -1 | $0 |
| 5 yr (2031) | ~7 | -1 | $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.
Enrollment growth is beating Santa Barbara County (+20.0% vs. +3.2%), but 9 of 16 students didn't maintain continuous enrollment. Why are families leaving once enrolled? Chronic absenteeism is also at 100.0% (up +30.0 pts from 2016-17) — engagement and demand are both signaling decline.
9 of 16 students who enrolled at Refugio High this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (56.2% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.
Nearest peer high schools
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.
Absenteeism is up 30.0 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.
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
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 — Santa Ynez Valley 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.
Local: 87.1%
Federal: 3.8%
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 Santa Ynez Valley 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).
Refugio High — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot
Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools
- ▸Senior-class enrollment is up 20% (5→6 from 2018 to 2026), outpacing the peer-group median of +0%.
- ▸At its recent rate (-3.9%/yr), enrollment projects to ~7 by 2029 — about 1 fewer students than today.
Enrollment projection
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refugio High | Public | 8 | — | +20% |
| Peer-group median | — | +0% | ||
| Peep - Prepare | Public | 24 | — | +89% |
| Legacy High | Public | 30 | — | -40% |
| La Cuesta Continuation High | Public | 69 | — | -17% |
| Paloma Creek High | Public | 45 | — | -33% |
| Cuyama Valley High | Public | 56 | — | +0% |
| Pacific Beach High | Public | 59 | — | -15% |
| Sierra High | Public | 61 | — | +0% |
| Phoenix High School | Public | 62 | — | +38% |
| Maple High | Public | 129 | — | +150% |
| Buena Vista High (continuation) | Public | 73 | — | +31% |
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 →