Romero-Cruz Academy

Public Orange County 🏛 Santa Ana Unified → CDS 3066670…

Data Year

Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Samueli Academy → Orange County Educational Arts Academy → Magnolia Science Academy Santa Ana → Polaris High School → Ball Junior High → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Romero-Cruz Academy.

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

212 (2018) → 763 (2026)

+259.9%

If this trend holds (+17.4%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon	Projected Total enrollment	Change	Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027)	~895	+132	$0
3 yr (2029)	~1,233	+470	$0
5 yr (2031)	~1,699	+936	$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 Orange County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Stability rate

89.5%

783 of 875 students

92 of 875 students who enrolled at Romero-Cruz Academy this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (10.5% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Orange County median

91.8% · school is in the 40th percentile of 144 HS

Statewide median

88.7% · in the 55th percentile of 2,648 HS

Stability by student group

Hispanic / Latino (849) 89.8%

Socio. disadvantaged (838) 91.2%

English learners (494) 89.3%

Students w/ disabilities (151) 90.7%

Nearest peer high schools

Samueli Academy 94.9% Orange County Educational Arts Academy 98.6% Magnolia Science Academy Santa Ana 97.9% Polaris High School 53.8% Ball Junior High 85.5%

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: total enrollment.

Chronic absent

21.6%

185 of 857 students

Absenteeism is up 19.2 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Orange County median

16.4% · school is worse than 69% of 143 HS

Statewide median

20.9%

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).

District financial profile — Santa Ana 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

$856.0M

+6.5% since FY2017

Per-pupil revenue

$19,336

44,271 students enrolled

Revenue mix

State: 56.1%
Local: 28.4%
Federal: 15.5%

Instruction share

62.3%

of current spending · $10,226/pupil

Long-term debt

$514.3M

+31.4% 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 Santa Ana 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).