Local Control and Accountability

This past Thursday was our LCAP meeting, but TONIGHT from 5- 7pm is an "LCAP recap". Even if you are not an LCAP Committee member, every stakeholder is invited to hear an LCAP goal update and learn about distribution options for federal Title I funds.  Some of the LCAP updates included site-based Family Fridays, mostly focused on literacy.  If you have attended any Family Friday event at your site - please reach out and give me your feedback.  I'm interested in the effectiveness of site-based academic support for families (that often include relationships and possibly student-specific data) compared to grade-specific academic support for families that could be offered centrally at the District Office with higher frequency.  Another update covered the movement of training from curriculum and outside organizations and companies to in-house trainers (staff) who know our students and our District.  I have fond memories 15 years ago of our Literacy Coach at Lexington offering both site-wide and teacher-specific support to optimize our core curriculum to meet unique student needs.  New data not available at the January Board Meeting was also presented from 1,051 staff responses gathered at the district-wide Professional Learning day on January 12th.  Finally, last week's and tonight's meeting will cover federal Title I funding, and whether, as a community, we want to distribute to sites with less concentration than our neediest schools.  It's a complex issue - come to learn and also give input if you're a committee member.  

On Thursday, one parent also asked about comparing suspension data to behavior referral data, and it opened up a discussion on how to access the data that these updates and decisions are based on.  Most site-specific data is available at the school's website on the School Accountability Report Card and especially the School Plan for Student Achievement, but district-level data can be found on the LCAP document on the district website, including the goals and metrics measured. You can also ask your local school's administrator or School Site Council for any data mentioned at the LCAP meeting that you are unable to find online. If you attend tonight's or any other LCAP update, I strongly encourage you to have access to the LCAP document itself.  Many times the updates include changes to the data, measured in increases or decreases, without actually stating the data goal for the metrics or the current outcomes.  This practice makes it hard to determine how successfully we are approaching our goal or see history over time, which are both useful in asking questions and giving input.  To be most effective in our stewardship role, we must put in the time to analyze our current goals and growth.

Looking forward to our next LCAP meeting in May, committee members will have the opportunity to share ideas for spending state funding on one-time expenditures that benefit the entire District.  The future expiration of our technology bonds was mentioned, meaning it is our chance to evaluate and be strategic about 1:1 technology, where every student has a device that they take home on a daily basis.  Start making a list every time you see a need....