How to Ensure Your School District is on Track to Meeting its Equity Outcomes

• An explanation on how the Budget Overview for Parents has changed since its adoption in June.
• A one-time Supplement for the Annual Update for 2021-22 (2021-22 Supplement). 
• All available mid-year outcome data related to metrics identified in the 2021–22 LCAP.
• Interim expenditure and implementation data on all actions identified in the 2021–22 LCAP.

• OUTCOME DATA: Do you want to know how students and school communities are doing as they return to school? For the first time, districts are required to provide mid-year outcome data on their progress on 2021-2022 LCAP metrics. This is an opportunity to see whether they are on track to meet their goals. 

What can you do to hold your district accountable?  

1. 1. 1. Identify. Look at your district’s LCAP and identify the metrics that you care the most about.
         
         • a) Examples of metrics include: school climate, family engagement, chronic absenteeism, suspension and expulsion rates, mid-year assessment of progress on literacy and math (including Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments and English Language Proficiency Assessments), graduation rates, college/career readiness, Advanced Placement enrollment numbers, and local metrics.*
      2. Advocate. Ask your district to present this data to the community in a way that would be easy to understand (ex. tables, charts, infographics) and disaggregated by student group. 

*The reporting of state indicators on the 2021 California School Dashboard was suspended in 2021; however, the same state indicator data is available from other sources. All local indicators will still be published in the 2021 School Dashboard. 

• EXPENDITURE AND PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION DATA: Are you wondering how far the district has gotten in implementing new or existing programs? Districts have committed to new and existing programs to address the deep inequities in our education system that have been worsened by the pandemic. In this update, districts are required to present expenditure and program implementation data on all actions identified in the 2021-2022 LCAP and an update on the ESSER III Plan. This means districts must explain how much money was spent, what it was spent on, and how far they have gotten with implementing each action (ex. how many staff have been hired, how many students have received services, how many school sites are currently participating in the program, how many community engagement meetings have been held) and what successes or challenges they’ve faced.

What can you do to hold your district accountable?  

1. 1. 1. Identify. Look at your district’s LCAP and ESSER III plans and identify the actions that you care the most about and figure out what information you would need to understand whether those programs are being implemented successfully. 
      2. Advocate. Ask your district to provide this data in its LCAP update presentation to the board in February. Also ask your district to update its Budget Overview for Parents to reflect additional funding received. 

• CONCENTRATION GRANT ADD-ONS (QUALIFYING DISTRICTS ONLY**): How is your district planning to use additional staffing funds? Starting this year, qualifying districts will receive additional LCFF funds through Concentration Grant Add-Ons. The funds must be used to hire additional staff at school sites where high-need students are 55% or more of the student population. In the 2021-22 Supplement, qualifying districts must explain how they are planning to use the add-on to hire or retain staff at high-need schools.

What can you do to hold your district accountable?  

1. 1. 1. Identify. Determine if your district is eligible for the Concentration Grant Add-on. If it is, gather the following information from your district:
         
         • a) Find out which schools in your district have 55% or more high-need students enrolled. 
         • b) Request the disaggregated student demographics for the high-need schools.
         • c) Identify the current staffing at these high-need schools, including current student to staff ratios, and determine what additional staff is needed at the school site.
      2. Advocate. Share your input for the district to use the Concentration Grant Add-On to hire those positions and ask your district to include all baseline student to staff ratio data by school in their 2021-22 Supplement responses. 

**Qualifying districts: districts with 55% or more high-need students. High-need students are defined as low-income students, English Learners, and foster youth. 

Ongoing Action Steps:

All of this information can also help you to evaluate the investments that your district is currently making–how effectively and equitably programs are being implemented, what the barriers are, and ways that funds could be used differently–and inform your budget recommendations for the 22-23 school year. It is also an opportunity to understand how the district is evaluating their own data and to ask them how they will use this information to make changes in the 22-23 LCAP.

The pandemic exposed and exacerbated deep inequities in our education system. With all the new funding that has come in, districts have committed to investing in programs and services to address these inequities. Communities must keep districts accountable to these commitments so that together, we can reimagine and rebuild a stronger and more equitable education system.