Poplar Elem vs Seeley Union Elementary
MT · 570 students • CA · 325 students • fiscal year 2024 • swap sides
In one line
- Poplar Elem and Seeley Union Elementary spend within 2% of each other per student once local price levels are accounted for.
- Poplar Elem directs 8 more cents of every operating dollar to instruction than Seeley Union Elementary.
- Poplar Elem reports fewer students per teacher (8.6 vs 21.7). 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.
| Poplar Elem | Seeley Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| Students enrolled | 570 | 325 |
| Schools | 3 | 1 |
| Grades served | PK–8 | K–8 |
| Setting | Rural | Rural |
| County | Roosevelt County | Imperial County |
| State | MT | CA |
| Local price level (US = 100) Above 100 means a dollar buys less here than the national average. | 94.6 | 95.2 |
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.
| Poplar Elem | Seeley Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| Per student, as reported | $23,470 | $23,834 |
| Per student, price-adjusted Divided by the local price level, so both figures are in the same money. | $24,798 | $25,042 |
| Per student, price-adjusted, excluding transport Transportation provision varies enormously between districts and states. Removing it compares the parts both districts actually do. | $24,231 | $24,241 |
| 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 |
Poplar Elem
Seeley Union Elementary
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.
Poplar Elem
- Local 13.6% Locked
- State 25.8% Locked
- Federal 60.7% Locked
Seeley Union Elementary
- Local 11.7% Locked
- State 76.6% Locked
- Federal 11.7% Locked
| Poplar Elem | Seeley Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| Local share of revenue Mostly property tax. A high share means school budgets track local property values, up and down. | 13.6% | 11.7% |
| State share of revenue | 25.8% | 76.6% |
| Federal share of revenue | 60.7% | 11.7% |
| Total revenue | Locked | Locked |
How MT funds its districts
We have not yet written up MT's funding formula, so nothing is claimed here.
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.
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.
Poplar Elem
- Instruction 65.9% Locked
- Instructional staff support 3.6% Locked
- Student support 6.3% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 8.9% Locked
- Transportation 2.3% Locked
- Food service 1.4% Locked
- School administration 6.1% Locked
- District administration 3.5% Locked
- Other support 2.1% Locked
- Other current 1.4% Locked
Seeley Union Elementary
- Instruction 58.1% Locked
- Instructional staff support 3.8% Locked
- Student support 5.6% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 9.0% Locked
- Transportation 3.2% Locked
- Food service 5.9% Locked
- School administration 4.5% Locked
- District administration 4.8% Locked
- Other support 4.7% Locked
- Other current 5.9% Locked
What is actually different
Share of each district's operating dollar, Poplar Elem minus Seeley Union Elementary. Two pie charts side by side are almost impossible to read against each other; this is the same data as one chart.
| Poplar Elem | Seeley Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| Cents of each operating dollar reaching classrooms Instruction plus instructional staff support, as a share of current spending. | 69.5% | 61.9% |
| Administration share District office plus school administration. | 9.6% | 9.3% |
| Transportation share | 2.3% | 3.2% |
What the money buys
Staffing levels are the most direct thing a budget converts into.
| Poplar Elem | Seeley Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | 8.6 | 21.7 |
| 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.
| Poplar Elem | Seeley Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | 31.9% | 28.0% |
| English learners | — | — |
| Students with disabilities | — | — |
| Enrollment change, 5 years | -17.4% | -16.7% |
Results, and results for the money
Stability and risk
The homebuyer’s real question: what is likely to change after I move in?
Poplar Elem
- Declining enrollment Enrollment fell more than 5% over five years. Enrollment decline is the single best predictor of school closures and programme cuts.
- Federal cliff exposure More than 20% of revenue is federal, a share that is unusually exposed when temporary federal programmes end.
Seeley Union Elementary
- Declining enrollment Enrollment fell more than 5% over five years. Enrollment decline is the single best predictor of school closures and programme cuts.
| Poplar Elem | Seeley Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment change, 5 years | -17.4% | -16.7% |
| 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?
Poplar Elem
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.
Seeley 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.
- 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 MT and CA.
- 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.
Poplar Elem
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.
Seeley 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.
| Poplar Elem | Seeley Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | $1,096 | $2,368 |
| 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. | — | — |
| Property tax as a share of all revenue How much of the budget rides on local property values, and therefore on local votes. | 3.6% | 7.3% |
| 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 | $122 |
- Poplar Elem: 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
Poplar Elem
We have not read MT’s election results, so this column is empty because of us and not because of Poplar Elem. Whether it has asked its voters for money is a question its county election office can answer and we cannot, yet.
Nobody has read MT’s school election results yet — that is a gap on our side, not a fact about this district. Its county elections office holds what it asked its voters for and what they answered, and that is a public record you can request. What it says is worth asking about at a board meeting.
Seeley Union Elementary
$6M approved by voters in a single measure.
| Election | Measure | Amount | Yes | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-11-08 | Bond · Prop. Measure STo construct a new gymnasium/mul ti-purpose room, enhance student safety and security, modernize classrooms and support facilities, upgrade playground…To construct a new gymnasium/mul ti-purpose room, enhance student safety and security, modernize classrooms and support facilities, upgrade playgrounds and athletic fields, and provide the local match for State grants, shall the Seeley Elementary School District be authorized to issue up to $6,000,000 in bonds at legal interest rates, with an independent Citizens' Oversight Committee, and no money for administrator salaries? |
$6M | 85.1% | Passed |
Locked One earlier measure in this district’s history is 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.
- 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 Poplar Elem and Seeley Union Elementary
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
- one more measure in the ballot history, with the amount
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