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32 Leadership
My daughter goes to a great
public school. The last API
was 937 and its similar
schools ranking is con-
sistently 9 out of 10. But as a parent, what
is most important to me is that she just
finished first grade and is reading chapter
books, loves math and science and feels safe
and connected to her peers, the teachers
and staff, and our thoughtful principal. For
most children at her school this is the case,
and where students are struggling there is a
commitment to getting them the resources
and support they need to be successful.
I am proud of our school, but there has
been unrest. During the economic down-
turn, as the state slashed education funding,
our school district teetered on the brink of
bankruptcy. At its worst, with our supplies
funding exhausted mid-year, the PTA was
backfilling the gap and actually paying for
toilet paper.
I was seeing the devastation from both
a macro level as we agonized over the state
budgets from 2008 to 2012, as well as the
very personal, micro level at our school. But
I have a confession to make. Although for
the last 15 years I’ve had the opportunity to
live and breathe education policy, first at Ed-
Source and the California School Boards As-
sociation, and now at Children Now, I have
to say I didn’t really engage at the district
level. This is coming from someone who for
nearly eight years worked with school board
members and superintendents throughout
the state as they translated state policy into
local action.
Knowing how to engage
Why didn’t I engage? It’s not that I didn’t
care and it’s not that I didn’t know how im-
portant it was. It was because in my role as a
parent, I wasn’t sure how. But when the Leg-
islature passed and then the governor later
signed the new Local Control Funding For-
mula at my neighborhood middle school, I
saw a path forward.
In the debate around the creation of LCFF
there was a spirit of the law that garnered
By Samantha Tran
Parents, community
partners and students are
learning more about how to
participate in their schools,
and are seeing in tangible
ways how their engagement
makes a difference.
at the centerof planning and budgeting
Putting student success
September/October 2014 33
my commitment and support, as well as
the support of hundreds of partner organi-
zations throughout the state. It held up the
notion that local communities should have
the f lexibility to innovate and respond to
student needs, coupled with a commitment
to investing in our most vulnerable children
in order to lift them up and provide them
the knowledge and skills to successfully par-
ticipate in our economy, society and democ-
racy. These notions of flexibility and equity
were bounded by the need for greater trans-
parency, authentic community engagement
and accountability for student outcomes –
the tools to foster public trust.
What being responsive to local needs means
Over this last year, we have all been learn-
ing. After four decades of laboring under a
compliance-oriented structure, educators
and governing boards are testing out what it
means to be more responsive to their local
needs and then investing strategically to
meet those needs. Parents, community part-
ners, and even students are learning more
about how to participate, organize and ad-
vocate at the district level and in the process
are ideally building relationships and seeing
in tangible ways why their engagement in
decision making matters.
One of the cornerstone elements of the
law that I’ve been most hopeful about is the
creation of local plans that are more directly
connected to a school district’s budget.
We’ve all been involved in the local plan-
ning process, especially if you’ve been in and
around schools, where the plan is developed,
approved and then quickly tucked between
other bound documents only to be dusted
off the next year for review. So why should
this new Local Control Accountability Plan
be any different? It will only be different if
we collectively breathe life into it.
My district jumped right in. It provided
leadership even though we didn’t have all
the rules in place while the State Board of
Education was finalizing the LCAP template
and the guidelines for how to demonstrate
“improved or increased services” for the
low-income students, English learners and
foster youth generating supplemental and
concentration funding.
My district demonstrated through its
words and actions that there was a strong
intent to engage the community. By see-
ing it firsthand and through our work with
partner organizations throughout the state,
I know that the intent to engage stakeholders
and come up with a solid plan for the benefit
of kids is present in districts, county offices
and charter schools throughout the state.
But, in a context with scarce resources to
invest and where the muscles around local
engagement and true decision making have
potentially atrophied after decades of con-
strained use, how do we foster this intent
and actually live up to the spirit of the law?
Obviously there are many nuances to this
question, but I believe we need to rethink
planning and budgeting, in concert with
our communities, so that they are ori-
LCAP development: Reflecting on what has worked so far
At this point in the year school districts have submitted their
very first LCAPs and are well underway in implementing
their plans. We all know the development of these plans didn’t
necessarily happen under ideal conditions, given the “building
the plane as we were flying it” phenomenon that we collectively
experienced. As potentially painful as that was, it does afford us an opportunity to
reflect on what did and didn’t work. For example:
n Was there sufficient time to analyze and discuss how students are doing?
• Did stakeholders receive accessible and understandable data on student outcomes?
• Was that information provided on a broad array of outcomes?
• Did you hear from stakeholders on what the most pressing needs and priority
areas are?
• Did unique assets in the district, schools and broader community surface that
could be leveraged to support improving student outcomes?
n Does the plan have clear, challenging, achievable goals for student outcomes?
• Which student success goals have moved front and center? Are they sufficiently
comprehensive to demonstrate the district’s vision, while at the same time being ac-
tionable?
• Do they reflect the unique needs of individual school sites and varying student
populations, including low-income, English learners and foster youth?
• How will these goals be tracked each year? What data will be used and is that data
readily available to all stakeholders in an ongoing way to monitor progress?
n Were the most strategic investments made?
• Did the goals for student success drive determination of local funding priorities?
• Was there a commitment to an equitable investment of that funding in ways that
will improve outcomes for our high-need kids?
• Does the community have a clear understanding of how those investments will
be made?
n How should local collaboration continue?
• How should students, parents and community members continue to be engaged
in an ongoing way during the planning, budgeting and local implementation review
process that happens this year, and each year after?
• How would parents and community members like to be involved in the process
locally?
• What can a district do to spark and support parent and community interest in
getting involved?
34 Leadership
ented around what we want our students to
achieve, attain and feel when they are in our
schools.
If student outcomes are our North Star,
designing the ship, building it and crewing it
together becomes a whole lot more possible.
The LCAP creates a unique opportunity to
do just that and ensure that student success
is at the center of planning, budgeting and
ultimately programming at the local level.
At the same time the state, through LCFF,
has significantly broadened what student
success means, moving beyond just student
test scores to also include college and career
readiness, conditions of learning, school cli-
mate and student engagement.
A commitment to these outcomes is what
I want for my daughter and all of the 6 mil-
lion children attending public schools in
California, including the half that live in
low income households, the quarter that are
learning academic English, and the 35,000
students who have experienced what no
child should and are now a part of our foster
youth system.
Reflect, refine and act
Over the years I have seen more and more
references to the concept of continuous im-
provement – for our students, our programs,
and our systems in public education. The
LCAP has the potential to be a living docu-
ment that embodies that ideal. There is al-
ways room to reflect, refine and act. Fortu-
nately, if done well, educators won’t have to
do it alone.
During the Great Recession, community
engagement often meant devastating con-
versations around which schools to close,
which programs to cut and which staff to let
go. Even though we are building back and
beginning to invest again, the discord and
distrust likely lingers. This is often exacer-
bated in communities that have historically
felt disenfranchised by public systems and
not welcomed in the decision-making pro-
cess. Your leadership will help set the tone,
and there is much you can do to make our
schools and the process around the LCAP
annual update an inviting environment.
Here are a few suggestions to consider:
1.Don’t wait. While it may be tempting
to revisit the LCAP in the spring with
your community, that is too late to have a
meaningful conversation. Start in the fall at
the 30,000-foot level and share that you are
still in the early stages of implementation.
Kick off your LCAP community input ses-
sions by providing participants with clear
milestones in the planning and budgeting
timeline for the year to come.
During this time, you can also work with
your community partners to evaluate local
needs by reviewing data available on the
school and student goals you’ve identified
in the LCAP for the current school year, as
well as additional data that sheds light on
how students are doing. This includes stu-
dent achievement, survey information, prior
levels of community engagement, and past
expenditures. Reviewing the comprehensive
set of current school and district plans that
will eventually interconnect with the LCAP
would also be a valuable approach to provid-
ing a comprehensive picture of school and
district efforts.
November/December 2013 35 September/October 2014 35
2.Link community engagement oppor-tunities to your board budget cycle.
One tangible way to pace your community
engagement cycle is to link the content and
timing of meetings and surveys to your
annual board budget calendar. For example,
share changes to the current year’s student
enrollment totals. As educators know, these
numbers impact the resources that will be
available.
Share what you are learning once Gov.
Brown’s budget proposal comes out in Janu-
ary 2015 about the potential revenue avail-
able for next year and any new expenditure
requirements. Begin explaining the impact
these changes might have on your local plans
and budgets in accessible ways.
In the spring, once you receive additional
information from the state with updated
revenue projections, make sure your com-
munity understands what is at stake. Using
this information and the results you are see-
ing after several months of LCAP implemen-
tation activities, you can begin discussing
potential changes to the plan, including re-
vising goals, updating student outcome met-
rics, and prioritizing investments. All of this
work will create a steady foundation – and,
hopefully, the relationships – to effectively
update and adopt the LCAP for 2015-16.
3.Explore new engagement approaches.The creativity around student, par-
ent and community engagement this year
in many districts has been laudable. I have
heard examples of high school civics classes
where the history and goals of LCFF are
being taught. Those students in turn are
being tasked with setting up focus groups
with fellow students so their voices are sup-
ported and included in the LCAP develop-
ment process.
I have seen districts develop high-tech,
high-touch outreach strategies that train
community members to reach out to their
networks of district stakeholders on key
LCAP-related topics and then connect that
feedback to a database that can analyze
trends by demographic and regional break-
downs. I have seen community groups step
up to partner with their local districts to
train and support parents so they have suf-
ficient information to authentically engage
in the process. It is through these efforts that
public trust is built and sustained.
4. Always err on the side of transpar-ency. Few parents will regularly ana-
lyze budget documents or review ongoing
standardized account data, but all parents
and taxpayers want to know they have access
to that information in easily digestible ways.
Public agencies do themselves a disser-
vice by not doing everything possible to be
transparent, especially in education, where
we know the resources are so scarce. I know
in a very visceral way there is not enough
money invested in our kids, but if we don’t
gain the confidence of our local communi-
ties by being open about how money is being
invested and what impact it is having, I am
certain there never will be.
5.Commit to making adjustments as necessary. Invest in what works and
either refine or remove what does not. Gone
are the days when we can blame the state
for maintaining programs and services that
aren’t effective. With local control comes
heightened responsibility for the benefit of
students.
As with most things in public education
– and life for that matter – there is no silver
bullet. It is not going to be just one person,
one program, or one process that ensures
the success of children in our public schools,
but each of these interconnected pieces
matter. As a parent, policy wonk and part-
ner to many organizations and individuals
throughout this state, I am committed, and
so is Children Now, to making LCFF a suc-
cess, but we can’t do it without you. n
For information on the policy work to im-
plement LCFF at the state level, as well as some
tools and resources to support local implemen-
tation, please visit lcff.childrennow.org.
Samantha Tran is senior director of Education Policy for Children Now, a nonpartisan umbrella
research, policy development, and advocacy orga-nization dedicated to promoting children’s health and education in California and creating national media policies that support child development.
36 Leadership36 Leadership
It is important to establish LCAP goals
that are measurable and achievable for all
students and required subgroups. LCAP
goals may be measured qualitatively or
quantitatively. Carefully consider the num-
ber of LCAP goals that your LEA identifies,
how they will be measured, and whether or
not they will show an increase in student
achievement and/or services both annually
and at the end of the three-year LCAP.
School districts receiving supplemental
and concentration grant funds must create
additional LCAP goals for the three target
student groups: English learners, and low
income and foster youth. These goals must
be measured annually in order to prove that
the required minimum proportionality per-
centage demonstrates how services provided
in the LCAP for these pupils increased or
improved services in proportion to the in-
crease in funding provided.
Interestingly, the SBE has recently estab-
lished a Plan Alignment Committee that
will spend the next few years analyzing all
of the various plans school districts are re-
quired to create and determine if it is feasible
to align them to one another.
School districts are familiar with estab-
lishing a wide variety of California Depart-
ment of Education and U.S. Department of
Education plans that are tied to either spe-
cific funding sources or programs, such as
a district strategic plan, LEA plan, English
language learner plan, Single Plan for Stu-
dent Achievement, Technology Integration
Plan, and District Long Range Master Facili-
ties Plan.
Governing boards were expected to adopt
a three-year LCAP spanning from fall 2014
to June 2017 by July 1, 2014. A school dis-
trict’s 2014-15 budget had to be adopted at
the same board meeting that the 2014-17
LCAP plan is adopted.
The SBE presented a revised and renum-
bered LCAP and Annual Update template
for public comment at its July 10 meeting.
The revision encompasses more detailed re-
porting regarding budgeted and actual ex-
penditures for actions and services noted in
the original LCAP.
LCAP county superintendent oversight
Just as the county offices of education and
California Department of Education have
fiduciary oversight of LEA budgets under
the Assembly Bill 1200 process, they will
also now have regulatory authority regard-
ing the LCAPs. The county superintendent
of schools is responsible for oversight and
approval of district LCAPs. The governing
board of a school district must file the LCAP
or annual update with the county superin-
tendent of schools no later than five days
after adoption.
The three criteria that will be reviewed to
determine if an LCAP is eligible for approval
are:
• LCAP adheres to the SBE-approved tem-
plate.
• Budget includes expenditures sufficient
to implement the actions and strategies in
the LCAP.
• LCAP adheres to expenditure require-
ments pursuant to the Ed Code – funds ap-
portioned for unduplicated pupils.
CDE and SBE reminded school districts
and COEs to pay special attention to the
eight LCAP state priority areas and the met-
rics linked to these areas.
Upon adoption of the rubric, the COE can
approve an LCAP or it can: identify strengths
and weaknesses of the LCAP, assign an aca-
demic expert/team, or request that the state
superintendent of public instruction assign
the California Collaborative for Educational
Excellence to provide assistance.
The state superintendent of public in-
struction may intervene if an LCAP fails to
improve outcomes at an LEA for three or
more subgroups for three out of four con-
secutive years. If the latter occurs, the SPI
may appoint an academic trustee, stay and
rescind board action, impose budget revi-
sions or make changes to the LCAP. n
Gina Potter is assistant superintendent, business services, Lemon Grove School District and
president of ACSA’s Business Services Council.
School finance primerContinued from page 10
38 Leadership
year. The purpose at this stage was to share
the LCAP draft plan for comments and sug-
gestions. This was an educational meeting so
the community understood how the devel-
opment of the plan occurred and how com-
munity input was a foundational piece of the
development process.
Sharing the complete, 100-page LCAP was
a challenge, and we found that providing an
overview of the plan and budget was ap-
preciated. We also shared the VUSD LCAP
webpage so that anyone could review the en-
tire plan and all documents that led to the
plan development. Additionally, we found
that an online question-and-comment sec-
tion provided an easy avenue for comments.
All comments gathered, from anywhere or
in any form, were answered and posted on
the district LCAP webpage for all to see.
The last phase of our process was to hold a
public hearing during our local board meet-
ing. Members of the English Learners Advi-
sory Committee and the District Advisory
Council attended the public hearing, and
several members of the public addressed the
board with questions and suggestions.
The result: A true community plan
Engaging the community takes work. We
found that most of the ideas and suggestions
we took in were thoughtful and based on
the needs of our students. The LCAP plan is
much richer as a result of this extensive pro-
cess. More importantly, I’m sure many in the
community believe the LCAP is a better plan
because of their contribution. It has become
a community plan, not just a district plan.
It isn’t easy to learn to play an accordion; it
takes time and hard work. I’m sure we didn’t
compose a masterpiece in our first year. I do
believe that opening the accordion wide and
pulling in the voices of the community has
provided the district’s educational leaders
with enough air to play a sound that is truly
a local, a song that speaks to the needs of our
students. n
References and resources
California County Superintendents Educa-
tional Services Association. LCAP Ap-
proval Manual; 2014-15. http://ccsesa.
org/special-projects /lcap-approval-
manual.
California School Boards Association. LCFF
Toolkit. www.csba.org/GovernanceAn-
dPolicyResources/FairFunding/LCFF-
Toolkit.aspx.
Ed Trust-West. LCAP Evaluation Checklist.
www.edtrust.org/west/publication/
lcap-evaluation-checklist.
WestEd. Local Control Funding Formula
Channel. http://lcff.wested.org/lcff-
channel.
WestEd. Local Control Funding Formula
Reading Room. http://lcff.wested.org/
lcff-reading-room.
Craig Wheaton is superintendent, Visalia Unified School District. Jim Sullivan is director of state and
federal projects, Visalia Unified School District.
Community inputContinued from page 30
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