Definition: Percentage of K-12 public school students enrolled on census day who are eligible for free or reduced price school meals, are English Learners, or are foster youth (e.g., on census day in the 2021 school year, 62.4% of California public school enrollees were high-needs students).
Data Source: California Dept. of Education, California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Unduplicated Pupil Count (UPC) Source Files (Nov. 2021).
Footnote: Years presented are the final year of a school year (e.g., 2020-21 is shown as 2021). Census day is the first Wednesday in October. Students are eligible for free or reduced price school meals if their family income falls below 185% of their federal poverty guideline (e.g., $48,470 for a family of four in 2020-21), they participate in the CalFresh or CalWORKS programs, they are eligible for the Migrant Education Program, they are homeless, or are foster youth. English Learners are students who speak a language other than English at home and lack English language speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills necessary to succeed in regular instructional programs. Data exclude California Education Authority enrollees and students in State Special Schools. The notation S refers to percentages that have been suppressed because there were fewer than 20 high-needs students. N/A means that data are not available.
