Plainsburg Union Elementary: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.
Plainsburg Union posts low test scores — and suspensions run below the state rate (0.5% vs 1.6%). If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 30 | 11% | 39% | -2.5 | 16.1% | 0.5% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Plainsburg Union Elementary scores 30 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 16th percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.
Most rating sites would stop at “39% proficient” and call it done. Plainsburg Union deserves a closer read. The school sits in Merced, where two in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Test scores are one lens, and at this school they're a rough one right now. The sections below show the fuller picture — including the parts that are working.
The seven-year arc
Slipped from the 26th to the 16th percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 39% meet the standard today, versus 42% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 62% | 15% | 77% | 58% | 36% |
| Grade 4 | — | — | 15% | 64% | 42% |
| Grade 5 | 38% | 42% | 73% | 15% | 46% |
| Grade 6 | — | 58% | 75% | — | 54% |
| Grade 7 | 35% | — | 55% | 64% | — |
| Grade 8 | — | — | — | 55% | 62% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 54% | 23% | 46% | 42% | 45% |
| Grade 4 | — | — | 46% | 43% | 33% |
| Grade 5 | 15% | 25% | 27% | 8% | 31% |
| Grade 6 | — | 33% | 17% | — | 23% |
| Grade 7 | 12% | — | 27% | 36% | — |
| Grade 8 | — | — | — | 36% | 23% |
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask what changed in the last two years, and what the school is asking families for. Growth shows up in these numbers a year or two after it shows up in classrooms.
- Ask what changes between grade 3 and grade 5 here, and who teaches the older kids.
- Ask whether the tour can step into a working classroom — watch how the teacher handles a student who's stuck.
- Ask to tour while school's in session, and notice how hallways and transitions feel — culture shows up between classes, not just in them.
- Ask how the school communicates with families when a child starts to struggle.
- Ask what a typical day looks like for a new student in the first few weeks.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly three times the rate of Grades 4–6 students (26.7% vs 7.9%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the earliest grades — worth asking how the school works with new families on attendance.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$571 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
At 113 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California elementary school (≈480).
On the state's science test (CAST), 23% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Plainsburg Union Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Plainsburg Union Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Plainsburg Union Elementary rank in California?
Is Plainsburg Union Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Plainsburg Union Elementary?
How does Plainsburg Union Elementary compare to other schools in Merced?
Your other options
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 11 | 18% | 18% | 27% | 36% | 36% | −7 |
| Grade 4 | 12 | 25% | 17% | 42% | 17% | 42% | −3 |
| Grade 5 | 13 | 15% | 31% | 23% | 31% | 46% | −2 |
| Grade 6 | 13 | 8% | 46% | 23% | 23% | 54% | +7 |
| Grade 7 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 8 | 13 | 15% | 46% | 31% | 8% | 62% | +15 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 11 | 0% | 45% | 18% | 36% | 45% | −0 |
| Grade 4 | 12 | 0% | 33% | 50% | 17% | 33% | −8 |
| Grade 5 | 13 | 8% | 23% | 38% | 31% | 31% | −5 |
| Grade 6 | 13 | 8% | 15% | 31% | 46% | 23% | −12 |
| Grade 7 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 8 | 13 | 0% | 23% | 38% | 38% | 23% | −9 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 26 | 4% | 19% | 69% | 8% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainsburg Union Elementary ← | — | 30 | 11.0% | 39.0% | −2.5 | 0.5% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 33 | 26 | #4079 | 21.1% | 42.3% | 5.1% | 0.2% | -30.8pp |
| 2022 | 31 | 37 | #3594 | 2.1% | 26.3% | 18.8% | 1.8% | +14.1pp |
| 2023 | 40 | 51 | #2793 | 25.5% | 47.4% | 16.8% | 0.1% | -11.5pp |
| 2024 | 36 | 34 | #3778 | 12.9% | 38.4% | 12.2% | 1.1% | -38.5pp |
| 2025 | 30 | 16 | #4797 | 11.0% | 39.0% | 16.1% | 0.5% | -2.5pp |
- — Subgroup results are suppressed for small student counts (fewer than 15 tested), following CDE privacy rules.
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 7.1% | 19.0% | +11.9pp |
| Male | 1.8% | 11.3% | +9.5pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 7.7% | 18.6% | +10.9pp |
| English Learners | 15.4% | 23.5% | +8.1pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 6.8% | 18.2% | +11.4pp |
| All Students | 4.4% | 15.3% | +10.9pp |
SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction