Santa Barbara Charter

· Santa Barbara County · Santa Barbara Unified
Public Santa Barbara County 🏛 Santa Barbara Unified → CDS 4276786…
📄 Shareable scorecard →

Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Santa Barbara Community Academy → Adelante Charter → La Cumbre Junior High → Santa Ynez Valley Charter → Goleta Valley Junior High → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Santa Barbara Charter.

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
287 (2018)257 (2026)
-10.5%

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) ~253 -4 $0
3 yr (2029) ~247 -10 $0
5 yr (2031) ~240 -17 $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.

Stability rate
93.2%
261 of 280 students

19 of 280 students who enrolled at Santa Barbara Charter this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (6.8% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Santa Barbara County median
91.5% · school is in the 65th percentile of 31 HS
Statewide median
88.7% · in the 77th percentile of 2,648 HS

Stability by student group

White (165) 92.1%
Hispanic / Latino (73) 93.2%
Socio. disadvantaged (73) 91.8%
Students w/ disabilities (60) 95.0%
Two or more races (21) 95.2%

Nearest peer high schools

Santa Barbara Community Academy 90.5% Adelante Charter 96.2% La Cumbre Junior High 94.4% Santa Ynez Valley Charter 95.3% Goleta Valley Junior High 96.0%

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: total enrollment.

Chronic absent
15.9%
44 of 277 students

Absenteeism is up 11.5 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Santa Barbara County median
18.9% · school is better than 77% of 31 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 Barbara 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
$237.1M
+7.1% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$17,979
13,188 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 18.6%
Local: 72.5%
Federal: 8.9%
Instruction share
54.4%
of current spending · $8,136/pupil
Long-term debt
$322.8M
+26.5% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Barbara 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).

Santa Barbara Charter — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • At its recent rate (-1.4%/yr), enrollment projects to ~247 by 2029 — about 10 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

257 students (2026)
~247 projected (2029)
at -1.4%/yr

That's about 10 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
Santa Barbara Charter Public 257
Peer-group median 20.7% +1%
Santa Barbara Community Academy Public 208
Adelante Charter Public 304
La Cumbre Junior High Public 410
Santa Ynez Valley Charter Public 212
Goleta Valley Junior High Public 729
Santa Barbara Junior High Public 540
La Colina Junior High Public 783
Peabody Charter Public 790
Nordhoff Jr. High Public 291
Carpinteria High School Public 596 20.7% +1%

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 →

Is your school winning the families it should?

An Enrollment Trend Audit benchmarks your enrollment against nearby schools, shows who's gaining and losing families, and lays out a plan to make families choose you — built around the outcomes your families value. Built for principals, heads of school, and district leaders.

Request an Enrollment Trend Audit →