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