Springville Union Elementary vs Lexington City Public Schools
CA · 335 students • VA · 537 students • fiscal year 2024 • swap sides
In one line
- Springville Union Elementary spends 3% more per student than Lexington City Public Schools after adjusting for local price levels.
- Springville Union Elementary directs 3 more cents of every operating dollar to instruction than Lexington City Public Schools.
- Lexington City Public Schools is far more dependent on local property taxes (42% of revenue vs 27%), which ties its budget more tightly to local property values.
- Lexington City Public Schools reports fewer students per teacher (13.8 vs 19.7). This is a staffing ratio, not an average class size.
Are these even comparable?
Establish the shape of each district before reading a single dollar figure.
| Springville Union Elementary | Lexington City Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Students enrolled | 335 | 537 |
| Schools | 1 | 2 |
| Grades served | K–8 | PK–8 |
| Setting | Rural | Town |
| County | Tulare County | Lexington city |
| State | CA | VA |
| Local price level (US = 100) Above 100 means a dollar buys less here than the national average. | 99.8 | 101.1 |
The headline dollar
Current operating spending per student, shown three ways. The first is what each district reports. The second and third are the honest ones for comparison.
| Springville Union Elementary | Lexington City Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Per student, as reported | $14,717 | $14,441 |
| Per student, price-adjusted Divided by the local price level, so both figures are in the same money. | $14,743 | $14,283 |
| Per student, price-adjusted, excluding transport Transportation provision varies enormously between districts and states. Removing it compares the parts both districts actually do. | $14,143 | $14,266 |
| Capital spending per student Buildings and land, never folded into the operating figures above. It is lumpy: a district mid-build looks expensive for two years. | Locked | Locked |
Springville Union Elementary
Lexington City Public Schools
Where the money comes from
The funding mix determines how exposed a district is to local property values, to state politics, and to federal programmes ending.
Springville Union Elementary
- Local 26.5% Locked
- State 51.7% Locked
- Federal 21.8% Locked
Lexington City Public Schools
- Local 41.9% Locked
- State 52.8% Locked
- Federal 5.3% Locked
| Springville Union Elementary | Lexington City Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Local share of revenue Mostly property tax. A high share means school budgets track local property values, up and down. | 26.5% | 41.9% |
| State share of revenue | 51.7% | 52.8% |
| Federal share of revenue | 21.8% | 5.3% |
| Total revenue | Locked | Locked |
How CA funds its districts
LCFF — Local Control Funding Formula: a base grant per pupil plus supplemental and concentration grants driven by low-income, English-learner and foster-youth counts.
How VA funds its districts
Standards of Quality (SOQ) with the Local Composite Index: the state sets a required staffing and programme basket, then splits its cost with the locality by measured local wealth.
Where the money goes
The same slices in the same order for both districts, plus the differences by function — because two pie charts side by side hide exactly the thing you want to see.
Springville Union Elementary
- Instruction 71.7% Locked
- Instructional staff support 0.0% Locked
- Student support 0.7% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 8.3% Locked
- Transportation 4.1% Locked
- Food service 4.1% Locked
- School administration 5.8% Locked
- District administration 2.7% Locked
- Other support 2.3% Locked
- Other current 4.1% Locked
Lexington City Public Schools
- Instruction 65.6% Locked
- Instructional staff support 2.7% Locked
- Student support 4.3% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 11.1% Locked
- Transportation 0.1% Locked
- Food service 4.5% Locked
- School administration 5.3% Locked
- District administration 6.3% Locked
- Other support 0.0% Locked
- Other current 4.5% Locked
What is actually different
Share of each district's operating dollar, Springville Union Elementary minus Lexington City Public Schools. Two pie charts side by side are almost impossible to read against each other; this is the same data as one chart.
| Springville Union Elementary | Lexington City Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Cents of each operating dollar reaching classrooms Instruction plus instructional staff support, as a share of current spending. | 71.7% | 68.3% |
| Administration share District office plus school administration. | 8.5% | 11.6% |
| Transportation share | 4.1% | 0.1% |
What the money buys
Staffing levels are the most direct thing a budget converts into.
| Springville Union Elementary | Lexington City Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher This is a staffing ratio: total enrollment divided by teaching staff. It is NOT average class size. Actual classes are larger than this number in every district. | 19.7 | 13.8 |
| Students per counselor | Locked | Locked |
| Students per administrator | Locked | Locked |
| Total salaries All staff, not teachers alone. | Locked | Locked |
Who they serve
The answer to "but they serve different kids" — which is usually a fair objection.
| Springville Union Elementary | Lexington City Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Child poverty rate Children aged 5 to 17 in poverty within the district boundary. Used instead of free-lunch eligibility, which community eligibility has made unusable for comparison. | 14.4% | 14.0% |
| English learners | — | — |
| Students with disabilities | — | — |
| Enrollment change, 5 years | +14.3% | +6.8% |
Results, and results for the money
Stability and risk
The homebuyer’s real question: what is likely to change after I move in?
Springville Union Elementary
- Federal cliff exposure More than 20% of revenue is federal, a share that is unusually exposed when temporary federal programmes end.
Lexington City Public Schools
- Little/no transportation spending Reported transportation spending is under 0.5% of current spending. Usually this means busing is limited, contracted out, or provided by another agency — check locally before assuming a bus.
| Springville Union Elementary | Lexington City Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment change, 5 years | +14.3% | +6.8% |
| Long-term debt per student | Locked | Locked |
| Debt service share of spending | Locked | Locked |
Enrolling a child
Is a seat at your zoned school guaranteed?
Springville Union Elementary
We have no such statement from this district — which is not the same as a promise that your zoned school has room. Most districts never publish the policy in either direction. Ask the school office directly whether your address’s school is enrolling at your child’s grade level before you sign anything.
Lexington City Public Schools
We have no such statement from this district — which is not the same as a promise that your zoned school has room. Most districts never publish the policy in either direction. Ask the school office directly whether your address’s school is enrolling at your child’s grade level before you sign anything.
- This is the district’s own published wording, not our summary of it. Policies are rewritten between enrollment seasons and a page can be out of date the day after we read it — the school office is the only authority on whether a particular grade at a particular school is full right now.
- A warning here is about capacity, not about your address. It does not mean your child will be moved; it means the district has told you in writing that it may move them.
Comparability notes
- Cross-state comparison. Dollars below are shown both as reported and adjusted to a common price level, because a dollar buys different amounts of teacher in CA and VA.
- At least one district sits outside a metro area with its own published price index, so its cost adjustment uses the statewide index. That is a coarser adjustment.
What these numbers are, exactly
Who decides, and what it costs you
Every band above this one asks what a district spends. This one asks who chose to.
Springville Union Elementary
The district levies its own school tax
This district raises property tax in its own name. Who sets the rate varies by state — an elected board in some, a public vote in others — but the levy is the school system’s own, and it is the part of a tax bill that school politics moves most directly.
Lexington City Public Schools
The county or town levies it, not the district
This school system reports no property tax of its own. It is a dependent system: the county or city levies the tax and appropriates money to the schools. You still pay school property tax — the school board simply is not the body that sets it, and the appropriation is argued out at the county or city council.
| Springville Union Elementary | Lexington City Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| School property tax levied, per student Only for districts that levy in their own name. Blank where the county or town levies instead — see the cards above, and read the next row. | $4,185 | — |
| Appropriated by the county or town, per student What the parent government handed the schools, for dependent systems. This is a general appropriation, not solely property tax. | — | $6,970 |
| Property tax as a share of all revenue How much of the budget rides on local property values, and therefore on local votes. | 21.9% | — |
| Long-term debt already owed, per student The balance at the end of the year, for scale. Repaid over decades, so it is a commitment made by earlier boards rather than a bill arriving now. | Locked | Locked |
| Debt service as a share of spending Interest plus principal repaid this year, against total spending. This is the part of the debt that is being paid now, out of money that would otherwise reach a classroom. | Locked | Locked |
| New long-term debt issued, per student Money borrowed during fiscal year 2024. What this figure does and does not tell you is set out under the table. | $0 | $0 |
- Springville Union Elementary: issued no new long-term debt in fiscal year 2024. That is a reported zero, not a gap in the data.
- Lexington City Public Schools: issued no new long-term debt in fiscal year 2024. That is a reported zero, not a gap in the data.
- A figure in the borrowing row is not a bond voters approved. It records debt issued, and that includes refinancing existing debt at a new rate — which changes nothing about what a district owes — as well as certificates of participation and lease-revenue debt, which in many states a board can issue with no referendum at all. To find out what was actually on a ballot, check the county election office.
- Debt is repaid over decades. A large balance per student is a commitment made by earlier boards and earlier voters, not a bill arriving this year. The debt service row above it is the part being paid now.
Funding measures on the ballot
Springville Union Elementary
$4M approved by voters in a single measure.
| Election | Measure | Amount | Yes | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-06-03 | Bond · Prop. Measure JTo improve the quality of education with funding that cannot be taken by the State; increase student access to computers and modern technology; modern…To improve the quality of education with funding that cannot be taken by the State; increase student access to computers and modern technology; modernize and upgrade classrooms, restrooms and school facilities; and make health and safety improvements; shall the Springville Union School District issue $4.0 million of bonds at legal rates, qualify the District for an additional $2.2 million in local State matching funds, have an independent citizens' oversight committee and have NO money used for administrator salaries? |
$4M | 58.9% | Passed |
Locked 2 earlier measures in this district’s history are not shown.
From the state’s own election file. Latest election on record: 2025-06-03.
What this state publishes: School district bonds and parcel taxes as the California Elections Data Archive compiles them for the Secretary of State. Bonds carry the principal; parcel taxes are quoted per parcel and carry no comparable dollar figure. Recalls and advisory questions are not included.
CA published no results for 2010, so a measure put to voters in that year would not appear here. That is a gap in the state’s own publishing.
Lexington City Public Schools
We hold every school funding measure the state of VA published for 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025, and this district appears in none of them.
What this state publishes: Bond and capital questions put to voters by Virginia counties and cities for their school divisions, back to the earliest the Department of Elections has published. Virginia school divisions cannot tax or borrow, so every question here was asked by the locality and is matched to the division drawn on the same lines. No dollar amount is shown: the source gives a short label rather than the ballot text, and truncates it mid-number often enough that any figure taken from it could be wrong. No pass or fail is shown either — the only outcome column the source publishes is decided per precinct, and in Henrico County in 2013 most precincts voted no while the county voted yes.
- A vote share is not an outcome. What it takes to carry varies by state and by measure — in some states a bond needs a supermajority and a minimum turnout while a levy on the same ballot needs half, so a clear majority can still lose. Every outcome shown here is copied from the state’s own election file, and the rule that applied is stated with the coverage above. Where that file stated no outcome we show whatever count it published and no verdict, rather than working one out from the percentage — and some states publish the ballot question without ever recording a count, so a blank there is a number nobody printed.
- These are the measures a district put to its voters, not its whole tax bill. A property tax bill also carries county, city and state levies that have nothing to do with schools, and in most states a school board can issue some kinds of debt with no vote at all.
What this band does not answer yet
The detailed figures for Springville Union Elementary and Lexington City Public Schools
The verdict, the headline dollar, the funding shares, who is served and every comparability caveat are free above, and stay free. What is behind the lock is the detail you would want before acting on any of it:
- capital spending per student
- total revenue and total current spending, and the funding mix in dollars (the percentage shares stay free)
- the ten-line per-student breakdown of where the money goes
- counselor and administrator ratios, and the total salary bill
- the debt behind the risk flags — per student, and as a share of spending
- the full ballot history: 2 more bonds and levies, with the amounts
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Compare something else
Springville Union Elementary on its own · Lexington City Public Schools on its own