District profile / California

Visalia Unified

Visalia, California · Superintendent: Kirk Shrum · #26 of 554 California districts by enrollment

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28,809

Students

2024-25 school year

Schools

2024-25 school year

$12,738

Spending per student

FY2020-21 · 7% below the California median

21.5

Students per teacher

2024-25 · California median 21.7

Visalia Unified is a public school district based in Visalia, California, serving 28,809 students in 41 schools. By enrollment it ranks #26 of the 554 California districts with 1,000 or more students, larger than about 95% of them. Its schools average 703 students each, more than the California median of 533. Its superintendent is Kirk Shrum. It spends about $12,738 per student on day-to-day operations, 7% less than the California median. It has roughly 21.5 students per teacher.

How Visalia compares

VisaliaCalifornia median, districts with 1,000+ students

Spending per student$12,738

California median $13,724 · 7% below · FY2020-21

Instruction spending per student$7,985

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

Students per school703

California median 533 · 32% above · 2024-25

Students per teacher21.5

California median 21.7 · about the same · 2024-25

Students per counselor465

California median 474 · about the same · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$481.1 million in revenue · FY2020-21

Federal 10%State 70%Local 19%

Measure	Visalia	California median	Year
Current spending per student	$12,738	$13,724	FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student	$7,985	$8,321	FY2020-21
Total spending	$407.1 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Total revenue	$481.1 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)	1,340	n/a	2024-25
Total staff (full-time equivalent)	3,123	n/a	2024-25
Students per teacher	21.5	21.7	2024-25
Students per counselor	465	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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Kirk Shrum

Superintendent, Visalia Unified

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

In the news

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Peer districts in California

Compare side by side →

District	Students	Schools	Spending per student	Students per teacher	Rank
Mt. Diablo UnifiedConcord	29,494	51	$11,965	23.2	#25
Visalia UnifiedVisalia · this district	28,809	41	$12,738	21.5	#26
San Ramon Valley UnifiedDanville	28,615	37	$12,168	22.4	#27
Bakersfield CityBakersfield	28,365	45	$15,168	20.4	#28
Lodi UnifiedLodi	27,109	49	$14,545	21.3	#29

Similar-size districts nationally

District	Students	Spending per student	Students per teacher
Richmond CountyAugusta, GA	28,923	$11,826	14.4
Spokane School DistrictSpokane, WA	28,853	$15,579	14.8
Tacoma School DistrictTacoma, WA	28,847	$15,922	18.8
Richland 02Columbia, SC	28,841	$12,557	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-visalia-unified