Contra Costa County Districts: Mt. Diablo Unified School District welcomed most students in 2023-24 school year

Mt. Diablo Unified School District had the highest enrollment among Contra Costa County school districts, welcoming 29,724 students during the 2023-24 school year, according to the California Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed in the 2023-24 school year, 51.2% of them were boys, 48.6% were girls, and 0.2% identified themselves as non-binary or did not specify their gender.

The most represented ethnicity among Mt. Diablo Unified School District students was Hispanic or Latino, accounting for 43.8% of the student population.

Among the 19 districts in Contra Costa County, West Contra Costa Unified School District ranked second in enrollment numbers with 29,412 students, while San Ramon Valley Unified School District welcomed 29,183 students and ranked third in the 2023-24 school year.

Mt. Diablo Unified School District roughly covers schools within Contra Costa County and has a main office in Concord.

In the previous school year, Pittsburg Unified School District had the highest number of students among Contra Costa County districts.

After peaking at 6.3 million in the early 2000s, public school enrollment in California has marked its seventh consecutive decline in the 2023-24 school year, with projections indicating it could fall to approximately 5.2 million by the 2033-34 school year. This trend is attributed to lower birth rates, slowed immigration, and families relocating out of state due to high housing costs. Rural and coastal districts have been particularly affected, facing tough decisions such as school closures and staffing reductions.

Although chronic absenteeism in California decreased in 2023, it remains double the pre-pandemic rate. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, chronic absenteeism in the state public schools reached 25% in 2023, up from 12% in 2019.