Knowlton Township School District vs Lost Hills Union Elementary
NJ · 175 students • CA · 291 students • fiscal year 2024 • swap sides
In one line
- Knowlton Township School District and Lost Hills Union Elementary spend within 2% of each other per student once local price levels are accounted for.
- Knowlton Township School District directs 11 more cents of every operating dollar to instruction than Lost Hills Union Elementary.
- Knowlton Township School District is far more dependent on local property taxes (69% of revenue vs 43%), which ties its budget more tightly to local property values.
- Knowlton Township School District reports fewer students per teacher (9.2 vs 20.8). 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.
| Knowlton Township School District | Lost Hills Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| Students enrolled | 175 | 291 |
| Schools | 1 | 2 |
| Grades served | PK–6 | K–8 |
| Setting | Rural | Rural |
| County | Warren County | Kern County |
| State | NJ | CA |
| Local price level (US = 100) Above 100 means a dollar buys less here than the national average. | 100.0 | 100.9 |
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.
| Knowlton Township School District | Lost Hills Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| Per student, as reported | $30,319 | $30,339 |
| Per student, price-adjusted Divided by the local price level, so both figures are in the same money. | $30,328 | $30,073 |
| Per student, price-adjusted, excluding transport Transportation provision varies enormously between districts and states. Removing it compares the parts both districts actually do. | $28,564 | $29,287 |
| 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 |
Knowlton Township School District
Lost Hills 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.
Knowlton Township School District
- Local 68.7% Locked
- State 26.3% Locked
- Federal 5.0% Locked
Lost Hills Union Elementary
- Local 43.3% Locked
- State 44.9% Locked
- Federal 11.7% Locked
| Knowlton Township School District | Lost Hills Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| Local share of revenue Mostly property tax. A high share means school budgets track local property values, up and down. | 68.7% | 43.3% |
| State share of revenue | 26.3% | 44.9% |
| Federal share of revenue | 5.0% | 11.7% |
| Total revenue | Locked | Locked |
How NJ funds its districts
School Funding Reform Act (SFRA): an adequacy budget per district with a local fair share subtracted.
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.
Knowlton Township School District
- Instruction 56.7% Locked
- Instructional staff support 4.3% Locked
- Student support 11.3% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 7.7% Locked
- Transportation 5.8% Locked
- Food service 1.4% Locked
- School administration 0.2% Locked
- District administration 4.8% Locked
- Other support 3.4% Locked
- Other current 1.4% Locked
Lost Hills Union Elementary
- Instruction 46.9% Locked
- Instructional staff support 2.6% Locked
- Student support 5.5% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 21.4% Locked
- Transportation 2.6% Locked
- Food service 5.6% Locked
- School administration 6.6% Locked
- District administration 3.1% Locked
- Other support 5.1% Locked
- Other current 5.6% Locked
What is actually different
Share of each district's operating dollar, Knowlton Township School District minus Lost Hills Union Elementary. Two pie charts side by side are almost impossible to read against each other; this is the same data as one chart.
| Knowlton Township School District | Lost Hills Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| Cents of each operating dollar reaching classrooms Instruction plus instructional staff support, as a share of current spending. | 61.0% | 49.5% |
| Administration share District office plus school administration. | 5.0% | 9.7% |
| Transportation share | 5.8% | 2.6% |
What the money buys
Staffing levels are the most direct thing a budget converts into.
| Knowlton Township School District | Lost Hills 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. | 9.2 | 20.8 |
| 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.
| Knowlton Township School District | Lost Hills 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. | 9.2% | 10.1% |
| English learners | — | — |
| Students with disabilities | — | — |
| Enrollment change, 5 years | +12.9% | +1.4% |
Results, and results for the money
Stability and risk
The homebuyer’s real question: what is likely to change after I move in?
Knowlton Township School District
No stability flags raised.
Lost Hills Union Elementary
- High debt burden More than 10% of total spending goes to interest and debt retirement, money that cannot reach a classroom.
- Low share reaching classrooms Under 55% of current spending reaches instruction and instructional support, low against national practice.
| Knowlton Township School District | Lost Hills Union Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment change, 5 years | +12.9% | +1.4% |
| 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?
Knowlton Township School District
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.
Lost Hills 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 NJ and CA.
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.
Knowlton Township School District
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.
Lost Hills 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.
| Knowlton Township School District | Lost Hills 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. | $18,984 | $14,487 |
| 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. | 65.3% | 27.5% |
| 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 |
- Knowlton Township School District: issued no new long-term debt in fiscal year 2024. That is a reported zero, not a gap in the data.
- Lost Hills Union Elementary: 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.
Who sits on the board
Knowlton Township School District board of education
- Ali Stiehl — President
- Rhonda Moritz — Vice President
- Kristen Baier
- Nicole Dabkowski
- Greg Krieger
- Tammeisha Smith
- Ronni Wittreich
5 of these are listed on the page without an office. It names them among the board without saying which office they hold, so none is shown for them. It is not a vacancy.
Read from the district’s own board page on 2026-08-24. Boards change; the district’s page is the current record, not ours.
These seats are elected, and what this board decides — the budget, the attendance boundaries, the calendar — is decided at a meeting the public may attend. The district’s own board page, linked above, is where it publishes the schedule and the agenda. We do not hold meeting dates or contact details for these people.
Funding measures on the ballot
Knowlton Township School District
We have not read NJ’s election results, so this column is empty because of us and not because of Knowlton Township School District. Whether it has asked its voters for money is a question its county election office can answer and we cannot, yet.
Nobody has read NJ’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.
Lost Hills Union Elementary
$6.2M approved by voters in a single measure.
| Election | Measure | Amount | Yes | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-11-08 | Bond · Prop. Measure RTo improve Lost Hills schools, replace old portable classrooms, upgrade the science room, expand library, fix cracks in the f oundation of some buildi…To improve Lost Hills schools, replace old portable classrooms, upgrade the science room, expand library, fix cracks in the f oundation of some buildings, make other repairs to roofing, plumbing, painting, restrooms, the parking lot and ADA accessibility, and improve student support facilities, shall Lost Hills Union School District issue $7,000,000 in local bonds, at legal rates, to renovat e, construct and acquire schools, sites, equipment and facilities, with independent audits, citizens' oversight, no money for administrators, and all money staying local? |
— | 62.3% | 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.
The detailed figures for Knowlton Township School District and Lost Hills 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
$1.79 for both, for three months, 21 cents less than buying them one at a time.
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Compare something else
Knowlton Township School District on its own · Lost Hills Union Elementary on its own