Poway Unified is a mid-sized urban school district in San Diego County serving 34,900 students across 39 schools. The district experienced a slight enrollment decline of 0.8% in the prior year, with a teaching force of 1,469 educators producing a student-teacher ratio of 23.8:1. The district's graduation rate of 95.6% exceeds California's state average of 89.9% by approximately 5.7 percentage points. Chronic absenteeism stands at 8.5%.
The student population reflects diverse demographics: 37.6% White, 31.2% Asian, 17.4% Hispanic, and 1.6% Black students. Approximately 14.9% of students qualify as economically disadvantaged, 6.7% are English learners, and 15.8% receive special education services.
Financially, Poway Unified operates with a total budget of $509.2 million but spends $15,555 per pupil, considerably below California's state average of $19,711. This funding gap of $4,156 per student reflects the district's revenue structure: 54.6% from local sources, 39.4% from state funding, and 6.0% from federal sources. The heavy reliance on local revenue indicates dependence on property taxes and community resources. The district's per-pupil spending deficit relative to state averages may warrant consideration when evaluating resource allocation and academic program sustainability.
This summary was generated by AI from public data sources. Last updated May 4, 2026.
This data is aggregated from state and federal public datasets. While we believe it is accurate, we always recommend confirming it on the corresponding state or federal site. See Data Notes for more.
Total Students
34,900
Schools
39
Per-Pupil Spending
$15,555
Data Sources: NCES Common Core of Data, NCES F-33 Finance Survey, EDFacts
Federal Data Year: 2024-25
State Data Year: 2024-25
Note: Some data may be unavailable for certain districts or years. Proficiency rates reflect state-specific assessment standards.
Math Proficiency
N/AThis data is either not available at a state or per-district level, or will be added in the future.
Staff counts are Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) from NCES 2024-25 data.
California uses a color-coded Dashboard system to measure school and district performance.
Colors are determined by combining current status with year-over-year change.
Gap between highest and lowest performing student groups (Asian vs African American)
Gap interpretation:Large gaps (>20 points/%) indicate significant disparities between student groups that may benefit from targeted intervention programs.
Distance from Standard (DFS): 0 = at standard, positive = above, negative = below
About the California School Dashboard
The Dashboard uses a 5x5 grid that combines current status (performance level) with change (improvement or decline from the prior year) to determine colors. Blue is the highest performance level; Red indicates the lowest. Dashboard colors help identify both high-performing districts and those needing support.
Source: California Department of Education, California School Dashboard, 2024-25 School Year