San Mateo County Districts: San Mateo-Foster City welcomed most students in 2023-24 school year

San Mateo-Foster City had the highest enrollment among San Mateo County school districts, welcoming 9,919 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, 52.5% of them were boys, and 47.5% were girls.

The most represented ethnicity among San Mateo-Foster City students was Hispanic or Latino, accounting for 40.5% of the student population.

Among the 24 districts in San Mateo County, Sequoia Union High School District ranked second in enrollment numbers with 9,649 students, while San Mateo Union High School District welcomed 9,335 students and ranked third in the 2023-24 school year.

San Mateo-Foster City roughly covers schools within San Mateo County and has a main office in Foster City.

In the previous school year, Sequoia Union High School District had the highest number of students among San Mateo 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.