Stine Elementary, Bakersfield CA

Original Research by School Decision on Stine Elementary

Stine Elementary is a school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in southwest Bakersfield, part of the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District. It sits in a part of the city undergoing significant growth and redevelopment, with new housing coming to the area and the district opening a new school, Mountain View TK-8, for the 2025-26 academic year alongside boundary changes.

The school enrolls a small student body for its grade span, with enrollment distributed fairly evenly across the elementary years. The student population is predominantly low-income, with most families qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is primarily Hispanic, with substantial Black enrollment and smaller shares of white and Asian students. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available.

In state testing, Stine's results show low proficiency across the subjects assessed. In English Language Arts, performance ranged from around one-quarter of students meeting proficiency standards in third grade to roughly one-third by sixth grade, with fourth and fifth grades in between. Mathematics proficiency was substantially lower, ranging from a low of around one in fourteen students in fifth grade to about one in six in third grade. Science results, assessed only in fifth grade, showed proficiency at a similar low level. Across all tested grades and subjects combined, overall proficiency sits well below the midpoint among Kern County districts, placing Stine in the bottom quartile countywide.

These are real gaps that parents should understand clearly. A parent considering this school would want to ask directly what supports are in place for students who are not yet proficient, what the school's approach is to raising performance, and how they track student progress over time. Reading, math, and science instruction are foundational to everything that follows, and results this low mean many students are entering middle and high school years without grade-level skills.

The school sits in a part of Bakersfield defined by relatively recent suburban development and working-family neighborhoods. Housing values in the area are modest compared to state and national benchmarks. Bakersfield overall is a fast-growing city with ongoing residential construction, and the Panama-Buena Vista district is in the path of that growth. The district recently passed a bond measure to address aging school infrastructure, which homebuyers in the area are helping to fund through property taxes.

Stine Elementary is a regular public school, not a charter, with traditional grades and structure. It is located on Wilson Road in a zip code where renters and owners face affordability pressures typical of working-class Bakersfield. For a family seeking an elementary school in this neighborhood, the central question is whether the school's academic supports match their child's needs, especially in reading and math where proficiency is markedly low.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 41% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 39% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 26% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 610%

School 10% · District 32% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 42% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 45% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 45% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 50% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 28% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

This schoolPanama-Buena Vista Union, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.