The Castro Valley Unified School District held a special “study session/workshop” board meeting to go over the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP).  No action was to be taken.  Here is a link to the board packet.

Background:

There is a new ‘simplified’ formula for funding public education in California.  It is called Local Control Funding Formula or (LCFF), an eight-year funding cycle.

School districts are given a base grant per student at different rates for elementary vs. secondary age students.  Every district gets this same rate per student.  The supplemental grant difference comes with target student populations: English language learners, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and those in foster care.  Only Castro Valley Elementary has a significant amount of target students (43%) that qualifies for supplemental funding.  The California Department of Education has provided an overview of the Local Control Funding Formula.

The Local Control and Accountability Plan or LCAP is a requirement of the LCFF.  It requires districts to answer how they will meet the needs of all students.

It also requires the district to engage ALL stakeholders.  EVERYONE.  Parents, teachers, students, community members, business owners, and staff are to be involved in the development of each district’s LCAP.

Our trustees discussed engagement at length during the meeting.  They talked about HOW this outreach to the community will look, they talked about where these discussions will be held and how to best engage our community to come to these meetings and be active participants.  The time line is fast, so there is some real urgency to involve stakeholders and get started.  The initial draft needs to be ready in late March.

CVUSD is late to this game, having waited for the template from the state for guidance. Other school districts surrounding us have already started engaging stakeholders.  I had a conversation with two teachers from San Lorenzo Unified and they started this process months ago.  Berkeley Unified started their process in October.

My concern with our district’s late start is that it will greatly reduce the amount of time to rally parent participation.   Decisions will not come from all stakeholders, but predominantly from our administration, and it will be status quo. San Juan Capistrano Unified School district is an example of what would not be an ideal plan. According to a recent Patch article, parent input is restricted to phase three of their plan and must be in the form of written questions to and answers from the superintendent. Sure, that checks the box of compliance with the law. It does little to comply with the spirit of the law which seeks to give parents a more thoroughly integrated seat at the bargaining table, and a greater role in deciding how district funds can be better spent to reach every student.

Our high quality schools are fundamental to our community.  Please keep informed and keep on the lookout for more information from your individual schools.  Participation in these meetings is important. Parents have a legally protected opportunity to guide school district spending.

My feeling from the meeting is that district is committed to meet the letter of the law.  Let us make sure our district truly engages the community and listens to new voices and ideas and does not just go through the motions to “check the box”.