District profile / California

Merced Union High

Atwater, California · Superintendent: Alan Peterson · #130 of 554 California districts by enrollment

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11,062

Students

2024-25 school year

Schools

2024-25 school year

$13,809

Spending per student

FY2020-21 · about the same as the California median

20.9

Students per teacher

2024-25 · California median 21.7

Merced Union High is a public school district based in Atwater, California, serving 11,062 students in 9 schools. By enrollment it ranks #130 of the 554 California districts with 1,000 or more students, larger than about 77% of them. Its schools average 1,229 students each, more than the California median of 533. Its superintendent is Alan Peterson. It spends about $13,809 per student on day-to-day operations, about the state median. It has roughly 20.9 students per teacher.

How Merced Union High compares

Merced Union HighCalifornia median, districts with 1,000+ students

Spending per student$13,809

California median $13,724 · about the same · FY2020-21

Instruction spending per student$7,956

California median $8,321 · about the same · FY2020-21

Students per school1,229

California median 533 · 131% above · 2024-25

Students per teacher20.9

California median 21.7 · about the same · 2024-25

Students per counselor357

California median 474 · 25% below · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$201.9 million in revenue · FY2020-21

Federal 15%State 65%Local 20%

Measure	Merced Union High	California median	Year
Current spending per student	$13,809	$13,724	FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student	$7,956	$8,321	FY2020-21
Total spending	$174.7 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Total revenue	$201.9 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)	530	n/a	2024-25
Total staff (full-time equivalent)	1,093	n/a	2024-25
Students per teacher	20.9	21.7	2024-25
Students per counselor	357	474	2024-25

Spending: NCES school district finance survey (F-33), FY2020-21. Staffing and enrollment: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25. Via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. The California median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.

Leadership

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Alan Peterson

Superintendent, Merced Union High

Source: California Department of Education, School Directory, checked 2026-10-19. Report a change

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Peer districts in California

Compare side by side →

District	Students	Schools	Spending per student	Students per teacher	Rank
Merced City ElementaryMerced	11,108	19	$13,083	25.4	#129
Merced Union HighAtwater · this district	11,062	9	$13,809	20.9	#130
Covina-Valley UnifiedCovina	11,055	18	$13,569	22.5	#131
Los Banos UnifiedLos Banos	11,041	17	$13,973	23.1	#132
Roseville Joint Union HighRoseville	11,002	8	$12,926	23.7	#133

Similar-size districts nationally

District	Students	Spending per student	Students per teacher
Fall RiverFall River, MA	11,089	$18,322	12.4
Newburgh City School DistrictNewburgh, NY	11,076	$23,985	12.1
Pender County SchoolsBurgaw, NC	11,073	$10,109	18.0
Spartanburg 05Duncan, SC	11,066	$11,604	13.8

Peers are the districts closest in enrollment, so they can still differ in many other ways. Enrollment, school counts and phone numbers are from the NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25.

Printed from Superintendent's Corner: https://superintendentscorner.com/district-ca-merced-union-high