South Pasadena Unified’s 3 public elementary schools run from the 96th to the 98th percentile among the 5,726 California elementary schools we score (spring 2026 tests).
Elementary · 3 schools
from 96th to 98th · among 5,726 California elementary schools we score · spring 2026 tests
The average elementary school in South Pasadena Unified had 4 in 100 students chronically absent (missed 10% or more of school days) in 2025–26; the average California elementary school we score had 17 in 100. Both are averages of school rates, each school counted once.
Middle schools
Where does the middle school we score in South Pasadena Unified stand?
South Pasadena Middle is at the 99th percentile.
That’s higher than 99 in 100 of the 2,529 California middle schools we score (spring 2026 tests). It’s the only public middle school we score in South Pasadena Unified.
Each percentile compares a school with California schools at its own level. What patterns mean
Where does the high school we score in South Pasadena Unified stand?
South Pasadena Senior High is at the 97th percentile.
That’s higher than 97 in 100 of the 1,498 California high schools we score (spring 2025 tests). It’s the only public high school we score in South Pasadena Unified.
Each percentile compares a school with California schools at its own level. What patterns mean
Where does South Pasadena Unified’s money go, and what does it plan?
South Pasadena Unified spent $15,959 per student in the 2024–25 school year.
The typical California district spent $20,491. About 68 cents of every South Pasadena Unified dollar went to classroom instruction.
Spending by function
Day-to-day spending per student in average daily attendance, from the district’s annual financial report (SACS) to the California Department of Education. District-wide: it includes central administration and costs never assigned to one campus.
Share by function, 2024–25
Instruction68%
Instruction support11%
Student services6%
Administration6%
Buildings & maintenance8%
Other1%
Shares of the same spending total, by the report’s spending categories, rounded so they add up to 100. Names are simplified from the report’s own categories.
What the district plans
$38.2 million
planned in its 2026–27 plan for 24 funded actions in 4 goals. That’s 49% of its $77.6 million general fund budget. These are planned amounts; the district reports what it spent in a later plan.
The plan in short
Source: the district’s yearly spending plan (Local Control and Accountability Plan, or LCAP, 92 pages), as posted to the California School Dashboard.
Where the money goes
Three actions take 86% of the money. The plan itself puts 98% of it toward staff.
Credentials $30.4 million
VAPA $1.5 million
Painting and Facilities $901,947
21 other actions
Reading, math and catch-up help
7 of the plan’s 24 funded actions name reading, math, catch-up help or English learners in their titles.
Actions whose titles name reading, math, catch-up help or English learners
Reading $71,741
Math $30,314
Catch-up help $585,353
English learners $664,247
An action naming two of these appears under both.
Largest of these
EL Staffing Support$642,719
Tier II Academic Interventions$368,321
Small Group Intervention K-5$146,904
For high-need students (English learners, low-income students and foster youth), what changed and what its goals measure
For high-need students
It plans $2.1 million in extra services for English learners, low-income students and foster youth. For 2025–26, it planned $1.9 million and estimates it spent $2.1 million, $0.2 million (6%) more than planned (our arithmetic).
$2.1 million spent (estimated)$1.9 million planned
What changed
The total is $3.8 million (9%) lower than in the 2025–26 plan. We couldn’t match $30.5 million of this $38.2 million plan to individual actions in last year’s plan. These lists cover the rest.
Largest cuts
Conferences−$34.4 million
Largest increases
Tier II Academic Interventions+$203,505
VAPA+$137,888
New in the 2026–27 plan
Credentials$30.4 million
Ask: What did Conferences pay for, and what changes now that the 2026–27 plan gives it $34.4 million less?
What its goals measure
Read these state results for the district’s own schools as context for the goals they measure; results alone can’t show what the plan caused.
What its goals measure: state results, 2024–25 and 2025–26
Measure
2024–25
2025–26
Change
English, every tested grade: Proficient or Advanced in 2025–26, met or exceeded in 2024–25Goal 2 · Offer State-of-the-Art Curriculum & Instruction
84%
83%
down 1 pt
Math, every tested grade: Proficient or Advanced in 2025–26, met or exceeded in 2024–25Goal 2 · Offer State-of-the-Art Curriculum & Instruction
79%
80%
up 1 pt
Goals 1, 3 and 4 aren’t shown because they track other measures.
Figures from CDE’s state test, chronic absence and suspension files. Test figures cover every grade the district tests (California tests grades 3–8 and 11), so they differ from a profile’s rated grades. We combined the district’s schools ourselves, weighted by students and leaving out charter schools. Chronically absent means a student missed 10% or more of school days.
The plan’s own titles and amounts
Credentials · $30,371,269
VAPA · $1,513,031
Painting and Facilities · $901,947
The full plan4 goals, 16 measures and where the money goes
We calculate each action’s share of the plan by dividing its planned amount by the total of the plan’s funded actions ($38.2 million).
Where does the money go?
83% to Goal 2, Offer State-of-the-Art Curriculum & Instruction. Each box is one action, sized by its planned dollars and coloured by its change since last year’s plan. Tap a box to open its goal.
EL Staffing Support$0.6 millionaction 1.5 · p. 50 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services
Tier II 6-12 Behavioral/SEL Interventions$0.4 millionaction 1.2 · p. 49 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services · of which $185,024 is state funding counted toward those services
7 more funded actions in this goal
Tier II Crisis Intervention and Attendance Support · action 1.11 · p. 50 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services$0.4 million
Tier II Academic Interventions · action 1.1 · p. 49 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services · of which $265,521 is state funding counted toward those services$0.4 million
Tier II K-12 Behavioral/SEL Interventions · action 1.3 · p. 49 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services$0.2 million
Small Group Intervention K-5 · action 1.6 · p. 50 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services$0.1 million
Tier II Intervention Materials · action 1.4 · p. 50 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services$0.1 million
Tier II Math Program Support · action 1.8 · p. 50 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need servicesunder $0.1 million
Tier II EL Literacy and Language Program Support · action 1.7 · p. 50 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need servicesunder $0.1 million
Changes from last year’s plan, same title
Tier II Academic Interventions+$203,505$164,816 → $368,321 · p. 49 ↗
VAPA+$0.1 million$1.4 million → $1.5 million · p. 50 ↗
EL Staffing Support−$63,775$706,494 → $642,719 · p. 50 ↗
Every other line in this goal, against last year’s plan
DI Mandarin · $871,222 → $876,749 · p. 50 ↗+$5,527
DI Spanish · $905,697 → $872,899 · p. 50 ↗−$32,798
Tier II 6-12 Behavioral/SEL Interventions · $442,064 → $436,219 · p. 49 ↗−$5,845
Tier II Crisis Intervention and Attendance Support · $369,805 → $387,046 · p. 50 ↗+$17,241
Tier II K-12 Behavioral/SEL Interventions · $231,561 → $230,338 · p. 49 ↗−$1,223
Small Group Intervention K-5 · $139,392 → $146,904 · p. 50 ↗+$7,512
Tier II Intervention Materials · $71,952 → $70,128 · p. 50 ↗−$1,824
Tier II Math Program Support · $27,090 → $30,314 · p. 50 ↗+$3,224
Tier II EL Literacy and Language Program Support · $39,990 → $21,528 · p. 50 ↗−$18,462
How the plan measures it · 1 measure
None of these has an all-students line we can quote; the plan’s table lists them from p. 11 ↗.
Goal 2Offer State-of-the-Art Curriculum & Instruction$31.6 million83% of action budgets
7 funded actions · 2025–26 plan: $35.5 million (−$4.0 million) · p. 21 ↗
All amounts are planned. We read them from the PDF and added up each goal’s actions ourselves. Page links open the plan at that page.
Who goes to the district’s schools
Who attends
Student mix
2024–25 · October enrollment count, 4,678 students
1Asian34%
2Hispanic or Latino23%
3White23%
4Two or more races14%
5Not reported3%
6Filipino2%
7Black or African American1%
8Pacific Islander<1%
9American Indian or Alaska Native<1%
Shares use the district's own October enrollment counts from the CDE, including its charter schools.
Free or reduced-price meals
15%
Across California, 63% of students qualify.
2024–25 · 686 of 4,652 students qualify, summed from the CDE’s meal counts for every school it lists under the district, charters included. It comes from a different CDE file than the student mix, so the two totals differ.
The district’s state records
Is the state giving the district extra help?
South Pasadena Unified isn’t getting extra state help in 2026, only the standard support every district gets.
How English learners moved up on the state’s English test
From spring 2025 to spring 2026, 64% of the district’s English learners moved up at least one level on the state’s English test (ELPAC), or stayed at the top (103 of 162 students). California: 47%. It counts students moving up the test’s levels, so a student can count here before becoming fluent.
Which public schools in South Pasadena Unified rank highest?
Elementary: Marengo Elementary, 98th percentile (Strong). Middle: South Pasadena Middle, 99th percentile (Strong). High: South Pasadena Senior High, 97th percentile (Strong). Each percentile is among the California schools at the same level we score. A rank doesn’t decide fit or whether a child can enroll.
Does living in the South Pasadena Unified district decide which school my child attends?
Not by itself. Attendance boundaries, programs, transfers and space all matter. Confirm the school for your address, grade and program with the district.
More questions (5)
Are the public schools in South Pasadena Unified good?
South Pasadena Unified’s 3 public elementary schools run from the 96th to the 98th percentile among the 5,726 California elementary schools we score (spring 2026 tests). By band: 3 Strong. South Pasadena Unified has one public middle school we score, South Pasadena Middle, at the 99th percentile among the 2,529 California middle schools we score (spring 2026 tests). By band: 1 Strong. South Pasadena Unified has one public high school we score, South Pasadena Senior High, at the 97th percentile among the 1,498 California high schools we score (spring 2025 tests). By band: 1 Strong. A percentile compares a school with California public schools at the same level that we score. How we score schools.
How does chronic absence in South Pasadena Unified compare with California?
The average elementary school in South Pasadena Unified had 4 in 100 students chronically absent (missed 10% or more of school days) in 2025–26; the average California elementary school we score had 17 in 100. Both are averages of school rates, each school counted once. These are averages of school rates: each school counts once, whatever its size.
How much does South Pasadena Unified spend per student?
South Pasadena Unified spent $15,959 per student in the 2024–25 school year. The typical California district spent $20,491. About 68 cents of every South Pasadena Unified dollar went to classroom instruction. Day-to-day spending per student in average daily attendance, from its annual financial report to the California Department of Education. The district’s spending, by function.
What is in South Pasadena Unified’s 2026–27 spending plan?
The district’s 2026–27 spending plan puts $38.2 million into 24 funded actions in 4 goals, 49% of its $77.6 million general fund budget. Its largest goal holds $31.6 million, 83% of the action budgets. The 2026–27 plan, goal by goal.
Where do these results come from?
California’s state tests (CAASPP): spring 2026 for elementary and middle schools, spring 2025 for high schools, and chronic-absence rates for 2025–26, published by the California Department of Education. Percentiles, bands and Scope Scores are SchoolScope’s calculations. How we score schools.
Sources and methodology
This page lists the public schools governed and funded by South Pasadena Unified, with the district’s spending and state accountability records.
Data source: California Department of Education · CAASPP 2025–26 elementary and middle school; 2024–25 high school
Percentiles, bands and Scope Scores are SchoolScope’s own calculations from these state files.