Education

San Diego County School Districts
According to the 2020 Census, San Diego County is home to 42 school districts. Of these, 13 districts are unified, meaning that they include both primary and secondary schools. 23 districts are primary and 6 districts are secondary. The county has 5 community college districts and 129 charter schools. In recent years, concern has risen over San Diego County being divided into a large number of districts, some of which serve a relatively small number of students. Despite calls to consolidate school districts, recent attempts at unifications in the past decade were rejected by district boards and other decision-making stakeholders.



Alpine Union Elementary
Alpine Union Elementary School District consists of 5 elementary schools and learning centers in Alpine, California in east San Diego County. Alpine Union Elementary serves a total of about 1,750 students in grades TK-8.

Cajon Valley Union Elementary
|Cajon Valley Union Elementary School District consists of 28 elementary schools, middle schools, and learning academies in Ej Cajon and Rancho San Diego.

Cardiff Elementary
|Cardiff Elementary School District consists of 2 schools in Encinitas, California in north San Diego County. The district serves students in grades K-6.

Chula Vista Elementary
|Chula Vista Elementary School District consists of 49 elementary schools and charter middle and high schools across Chula Vista, Bonita, Sunnyside, and South San Diego. The district serves students in grades TK-12.

Dehesa Elementary
|Dehesa Dehesa School District consists of a single school in El Cajon, east San Diego County, serving students in grades TK-8.

Del Mar Union Elementary
Del Mar Union School District consists of 11 schools in Del Mar and San Diego, serving students in grades TK-6. In May 2022, Del Mar Union was involved in a lawsuit against local nonprofit Save the Field, which accused the City of San Diego of violating the California Environmental Quality Act to rebuild the Del Mar Heights School. In June 2022, a San Diego County Superior Court judge halted construction after identifying environmental flaws in the school district's plans. The project began in 2019, with the school district hoping to complete the rebuild for the 2020-21 school year, however, legal proceedings initiated by Save the Field have caused the projected completion date to move to May 2023. For the duration of the rebuilding process, Del Mar Heights students were relocated to Del Mar Hills and Ocean Air School, causing parent groups and Del Mar Union spokespeople to argue against further delays.

Encinitas Union Elementary
Encinitas Union School District consists of 9 schools in Encinitas and the Rancho La Costa area in North San Diego County, serving approximately 5,400 students in grades K-6.

Escondido Union Elementary
Escondido Union School District

Fallbrook Union Elementary
Fallbrook Union School District

Jamul-Dulzura Union Elementary
Jamul-Dulzara Union School District

Julian Union Elementary
Julian Union School District

La Mesa-Spring Valley Elementary
La Mesa-Spring Valley School District consists of 18 elementary schools, 5 middle schools and learning academies, and a preschool and transitional kindergarten. The districts serves students in the East County area of San Diego County.

Lakeside Union Elementary
Lakeside Union School District is located in Hanford, CA, serving students in grades K-8.

Lemon Grove Elementary
Lemon Grove School District

National Elementary
National Elementary School District

Rancho Santa Fe Elementary
Rancho Santa Fe School District consists of

Today, District enrollment is just over 600 students from the communities of Rancho Santa Fe, Elfin Forest, El Cielo, and The Bridges.

San Pasqual Union Elementary
San Pasqual Union School District

San Ysidro Elementary
San Ysidro School District consists of 8 elementary, middle and preschools. The community served by the district lies adjacent to the United-States Mexico International Border.

Santee
Santee School District consists of 9 schools, serving approximately 6,400 students in grades K-8.

Solana Beach Elementary
Solana Beach School District consists of 7 elementary schools, serving students in grades K-6.

South Bay Union
South Bay School District consists of 12 schools, including preschools, elementary, and charter schools. The district serves approximately 6,000 students in grades TK-8 and about 340 preschool students in the Imperial Beach, San Ysidro, and south San Diego regions.

Spencer Valley Elementary
Spencer Valley School District serves students in grades TK-8

Vallecitos Elementary
Vallecitos School District consists of 1 elementary school serving students in grades K-8.

 

Escondido Union High
Escondido Union High School District consists of 7 schools, including the Escondido Adult School.

Fallbrook Union High
Fallbrook Union High School District comprises

Grossmont Union High
Grossmont Union High consists of 10 high schools, 2 charter high schools, and an adult school.

San Dieguito Union High
San Dieguito Union School District consists of 9 middle and high schools, serving students in grades 8-12.

Sweetwater Union High
Sweetwater Union School District consists of 32 schools, serving more than 36,000 students in grades 7-12 and more than 10,000 adult learners.

 

Warner Unified
Warner Unified School District consists of 10 schools, including multiple charter schools, adult education programs, and a continuation high school.

Carlsbad Unified
Carlsbad Unified School District consists of 14 elementary, middle, and high schools serving more than 11,000 students.

In October 2022, the school board trustee election for Area 1 of the Carlsbad Unified School District gained significant attention due to candidate Sharon McKeeman, a North County resident whose organization Let Them Breathe gained national attention due to its efforts to remove mask mandates from schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. McKeeman lost against Michelle Ward, who currently serves on the Carlsbad Unified Board of Trustees. Candidate forums and campaigning leading up to the election were viewed as contentious during this time.

Coronado Unified
Coronado Unified School District consists of 8 elementary, and high schools in Pauma Valley and Valley Center in northern San Diego County. The district serves approximately 4,000 students in grades PK-12.

Mountain Empire Unified
Mountain Empire Unified School District consists of 10 schools, including early childhood education center and an alternative learning academy. The district serves approximately 1,700 students in grades TK-12.

Oceanside Unified
Oceanside Unified School District consists of 15 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, 2 high schools, 1 adult training program, and 1 alternative education school.

Poway Unified
Poway Unified School District consists of 41 schools, serving approximately 35,200 students in grades TK-12 and about 8,000 students in adult education and career technical education programs each. It is the 3rd largest school district in San Diego County.

Ramona City Unified
Ramona Unified School District consists of 13 elementary, middle, high, and adult schools.

SBC - High Tech High
High Tech High (HTH) is an integrated system of 16 charter schools in Chula Vista, Claremont Mesa, North County, and Point Loma. HTH serves about 6,350 students from grades K-12.

San Diego County Office of Education
The San Diego County of Education was founded in 1948 to provide business, curricular, and other support to all school districts, community college districts, and charter schools in San Diego County.

Local Control and Accountability Plans
The California Board of Education enacted the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in 2013-14 to restructure the way local educational agencies receive funding and optimize the measures used to gauge results. In addition to providing general assistance to local agencies, the LCFF creates funding targets based on student demographics and possible performance issues that agencies may be facing.

The Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) was a key aspect of this restructuring, creating a framework that allows school district boards, teachers, and parents to provide their input on annual goals, action plans, and how state funding will be used to improve services for foster youth, English learners, and low-income students.

Like districts in other Californian counties, San Diego County school districts have oversight committees and stakeholder groups that convene to finalize the annual LCAPs. The contents of district LCAPs are often widely debated as districts attempt to reach consensus on their priorities for the upcoming school year.

2020 Pandemic Shutdowns and Mask Mandates
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, San Diego County school districts experienced shutdowns in the spring of the 2019-2020 school year. Disagreements regarding mask mandates at schools for the 2020-21 school year made national headlines as stakeholders attempted to

In July 2022, San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) President Dr. Sharon Whitehurst-Payne defended the district's decision to reinstate its indoor mask mandate for summer schools. Her interview with KUSI News garnered attention from parent groups with negative sentiments towards indoor masking at the time, and the district faced backlash from such parent groups. The main grievances conveyed were related to "over-reaching by the government" and the alleged negative impact that masking may have had on students' social and educational development.

San Diego Community College District
The San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) comprises 3 campuses — San Diego City College, San Diego Mesa College, and San Diego Miramar College. These 3 colleges serve a total of approximately 100,000 students each year. Additionally, the 7 campuses of the San Diego College of Continuing Education fall under the SDCCD's jurisdiction.

Grossmont–Cuyamaca Community College District
The Grossmont–Cuyamaca Community College District (GCCCD) comprises 2 campuses — Grossmont College and Cuyamaca College. The GCCCD serve a total of approximately 24,000 students each year.