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School Grade Span Group Assignment Guidance

Consolidated Application guidance for the School Grade Span Group Assignments, which are used in the Title I, Part A School Student Counts Winter Release Consolidated Application Reporting System (CARS) data collection form.

Grade Span Groups are assigned in consideration of the grade levels offered in a given school. There are 3 groups. Generally, Grade Span Code 1 is for elementary grades, Grade Span Code 2 is for middle grades, and Grade Span Code 3 is for high schools. Grade Span Codes 1, 2 and 3 are the only ones allowable. The table below provides a reference on which Grade Span Group Code to assign a school. If the school's grade levels are not reflected in the table, the local educational agency should exercise its own discretion in assigning the Grade Span Group to the school.

Note: If the grade levels of a school have changed, the district or county, county-district-school (CDS) Coordinators or Superintendents must submit updates through the Online Public Update for Schools – County-District-School (OPUS-CDS) application, which is located on the California Department of Education (CDE) OPUS-CDS web page. For further OPUS-CDS instructions, please follow the link.
Additional Information on Grade-Span Option

The Educational Data Management Division within the CDE has established the following designations of grade spans based upon the grades served by a school.

Grade Span Code 1
Grades Grade Span Code
KK-KK 1
KK-01 1
KK-02 1
KK-03 1
KK-04 1
KK-05 1
KK-06 1
KK-07 1
KK-08 1
01-01 1
01-02 1
01-03 1
01-04 1
01-05 1
01-06 1
01-07 1
01-08 1
02-02 1
02-03 1
02-04 1
02-05 1
02-06 1
02-07 1
02-08 1
03-03 1
03-04 1
03-05 1
03-06 1
03-07 1
03-08 1
04-04 1
04-05 1
04-06 1
04-07 1
05-05 1
05-06 1
06-06 1
Grade Span Code 2
Grades Grade Span Code
KK-09 2
01-09 2
02-09 2
03-09 2
04-08 2
04-09 2
05-07 2
05-08 2
05-09 2
06-07 2
06-08 2
06-09 2
07-07 2
07-08 2
07-09 2
08-08 2
08-09 2
Grade Span Code 3
Grades Grade Span Code
KK-10 3
KK-11 3
KK-12 3
01-10 3
01-11 3
01-12 3
02-10 3
02-11 3
02-12 3
03-10 3
03-11 3
03-12 3
04-10 3
04-11 3
04-12 3
05-10 3
05-11 3
05-12 3
06-10 3
06-11 3
06-12 3
07-10 3
07-11 3
07-12 3
08-10 3
08-11 3
08-12 3
09-09 3
09-10 3
09-11 3
09-12 3
10-10 3
10-11 3
10-12 3
11-11 3
11-12 3
12-12 3
Questions:   ConApp Support Desk | conappsupport@cde.ca.gov | 916-319-0297
Last Reviewed: Monday, February 09, 2026
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