2013 Changes
Effective July 2013
The "locale code" field (also known as "PopStat") is no longer provided in the public schools database.
The field types for "Latitude" and "Longitude" were changed from "character" to "decimal" fields.
Effective April 2013
The public schools data file is no longer provided in database format (as a ".dbf" file).
Thus, the "DBF" choice has been removed from the Data Files list of available format options.
2012 Changes
Effective January 2012
Changed column delimiter from semicolon to tab for pubschls.txt.
2011 Changes
Effective November 2011
Added Elements
The following elements were added to the downloadable public schools files.
- AdmFName1 - Current superintendent’s or Principal’s first name.
- AdmLName1 - Current superintendent’s of principal’s last name.
- AdmEmail1 - Current superintendent’s or principal’s e-mail address.
- AdmFName2 - The second principal’s first name (optional).
- AdmLName2 - The second principal’s last name (optional).
- AdmEmail2 - The second principal’s e-mail address (optional).
- AdmFName3 - The third principal’s first name (optional).
- AdmLName3 - The third principal’s last name (optional).
- AdmEmail3 - The third principal’s e-mail address (optional).
- Phone - Area code and phone number of district or school.
- Ext - District or school phone extension.
- Website - District or school website.
For district level records, the AdmFName1, AdmLName1, & AdmEmail1 will contain superintendent information; for school level records, they will contain the principal information. Adm2 and Adm3 will contain second and third principals, if applicable.
Effective July 2011
The PopStat field values were changed and the field length was expanded from 1 to 2 characters. The PopStat field contains Locale Codes – a classification system originally developed by National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the 1980’s to describe a school’s location ranging from “large city” to “rural.” The coding system was modified in 2007. The new locale codes are based on an address’s proximity to an urbanized area (a densely settled core with densely settled surrounding areas). This is a change from the original system based on metropolitan statistical areas. To distinguish the two systems, the new system is referred to as “urban-centric locale codes.” The old system contained eight categories; the new has twelve categories. See the NCES
Web site for additional information.
2010 Changes
Effective May 2010
Removed Elements
The following elements were removed from the downloadable public schools files.
- DST_TYPE - The type of school district.
- SCH_TYPE - The type of school.
- GRD_SPAN - The lowest grade and the highest grade in which student enrollment was reported in the most recent certified CBEDS data collection.
- ASM_DIST - Number of the California Assembly district in which this school is located.
- ASM_MEM - Name of the California Assembly member for the district in which this school is located.
- ASM_PRTY - Political party affiliation of this Assembly member.
- SEN_DIST - Number of the California Senate district in which this school is located.
- SEN_MEM - Name of the California Senate member for the district in which this school is located.
- SEN_PRTY - Political party affiliation of this Senate member.
- CON_DIST - Number of the U.S. congressional district in which this school is located.
- CON_MEM - Name of the U.S. congressional member for the district in which this school is located.
- CON_PRTY - Political party affiliation of this U. S. congressional member.
- CSIS_CON - The California School Information System (CSIS) Consortium
- CSISAGNT - The 7-digit county-district code for the district or county office that serves as the fiscal agent for the CSIS consortium to which this district belongs.
- CSIS_CBEDS - The status of how local educational agencies (LEAs) and/or charter schools submit their fall California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) data.
- CSIS_LCEN - The status of how LEAs and/or charter schools submit their spring Language Census (R30-LC) data.
Added Elements
The following elements were added to the downloadable public schools files.
- DOC - District Ownership Code
- DOCType - District Type
- EdOptsCode
- EdOptsName
- EILCode - Educational Instruction Level Code
- EILName - Educational Instruction Level Name
- GSoffered - The Grade Span Offered represents the low grade to high grade offered or supported by the school or district.
- GSserved - This field represents the grade span served as reported through CBEDS.
- NCESDist - National Center for Education Statistics district identifier.
- NCESSchool - National Center for Education Statistics school identifier.
- SOC - School Ownership Code
- SOCType - School Type
Modified Elements
The following element names and or field widths have been modified.
Former Name |
Former Width |
New Name |
New Width |
|---|---|---|---|
CDS_CODE |
14 |
CDSCode |
14 |
STAT_TYP |
7 |
StatusType |
7 |
COUNTY |
15 |
County |
15 |
DISTRICT |
50 |
District |
90 |
SCHOOL |
50 |
School |
90 |
STR_ADDR |
60 |
StreetAbr |
201 |
LONG_STR |
50 |
Street |
201 |
STR_CITY |
25 |
City |
25 |
STR_ST |
2 |
State |
2 |
STR_ZIP |
10 |
ZIP |
10 |
MAIL_ADR |
50 |
MailStrAbr |
201 |
LONG_MAI |
50 |
MailStreet |
201 |
MAIL_CTY |
25 |
MailCity |
25 |
MAIL_ST |
2 |
MailState |
2 |
MAIL_ZIP |
10 |
MailZip |
10 |
START_DT |
8 |
OpenDate |
10 |
END_DT |
8 |
ClosedDate |
10 |
CHARTER |
1 |
Charter |
1 |
CHARTER_NU |
5 |
CharterNum |
4 |
LONGITUD |
10 |
Longitude |
10 |
LASTUPDT |
8 |
LastUpDate |
10 |
| POP_STAT | 1 | PopStat | 1 |
Other Changes
- The element descriptions that contained a “district” reference were changed to “district or administrative authority.”
- Preschools and Regional Occupational Program/Centers (ROP/Cs) are now included in the downloadable data file.
