Board Highlights January & February 2020
2019 State Dashboard Presentation
Now in its fourth iteration, in December, the California Department of Education made public the Fall, 2019 State Dashboard. The latest Dashboard compares 2018-19 performance to that of 2017-18. For the most part, this year's results offered good news for the Sequoia Union High School District. While there is certainly still much room for improvement, the District exited Differentiated Assistance status and showed growth in most areas and by subgroups.
For a preview of Wednesday's presentation, please click here or open the pdf attachment below. Links embedded in the presentation are also attached in pdf below.
Student Discipline Report 2018-19
The 2018-2019 Student Discipline Report to the Board will include the following:
Brief Overview
Suspensions and Data
Expulsions and Data
2019-2020+ Continued Work
Suspensions and Data
Expulsions and Data
2019-2020+ Continued Work
SUHSD staff have effectively reduced the suspension rate and expulsion count over the past five school years, from 2014-2015 to 2018-2019. While initially rising during this time, the suspension rate has fallen by 0.3% from 5.7% to 5.4% (suspension rate is equal to the unduplicated count of suspended students divided by enrollment), resulting in a color of green on the California dashboard for the Suspension indicator. The expulsion count has fallen by 67% (14 students) over the same span of time, from 22 students to 7 students.
The effective strategies and changes in policies and procedures resulting in the successful improvement of the district’s suspension and expulsion data will be discussed as a component of the presentation. Additionally, continued areas of focus will be reviewed which will support the ongoing improvement effort in this area.
The effective strategies and changes in policies and procedures resulting in the successful improvement of the district’s suspension and expulsion data will be discussed as a component of the presentation. Additionally, continued areas of focus will be reviewed which will support the ongoing improvement effort in this area.
Student Discipline Report to Board Presentation
Special Education Annual Update
This Annual Special Education update will review Superintendent aligned goals, special education enrollment, continuum of placement options, areas of need, fiscal highlights and recommendations for school year 2020-2021.
LCAP Community Input Findings
In the creation of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), the District gleans input from a wide variety of stakeholders. To that end, in the fall semester, the District surveyed 10,000 stakeholders. In the fall of 2019 the District hosted six Community Engagement Nights; one at each of the District high schools.
This year each principal chose a topic that fell within the District's LCAP and Governance Goals on which they wanted input for their particular site. Also presented will be the results of the Panorama Surveys taken this fall by parents, students and staff. To keep continuity in the data, almost all the questions asked on the survey are this year the same as those asked the prior two years. The exception is the addition of one open response question that was this year added to the certificated staff survey.
On Wednesday evening, the results of this input will be shared with the Board. With the Board's direction, this input will help to inform the SUHSD LCAP. For a preview of the presentation, please visit: LCAP Community Input Findings Staff Presentation
LCAP Annual Update
Each spring, when the Board approves the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) for the school year to come, part of what is included in the Annual Update is how the District has performed on the prior LCAPs measures. In an effort to provide the LCAP information in smaller chunks, this year we are bringing the Annual Update for Board consideration early. While the Annual Update will still be part of the LCAP approved in the spring, we hope that by providing it now it will help to inform the decisions to be made about the new LCAP goals to be developed this spring.
TIDE Academy Magnet School Designation (Approved)
According to the California Department of Education: "Magnet programs and schools provide students and their parents/guardians/caregivers choices other than attending their local school. The magnet program or school is usually based on a specific curriculum theme or occupational cluster. Districts may establish a magnet program within a traditional school or a separate magnet school. Magnets are established by district governing boards to achieve certain objectives, such as; (1) creating a better balance in school population across a district, including overcrowding conditions and/or ethnic and racial makeup; and/or (2) to provide instruction in particular curricular areas at one or a few schools that cannot be provided at every school.
This is a recommendation from staff that the Sequoia Union High School District Governing Board approve TIDE Academy as a STEAM magnet school. The rationale for the request is that we believe this will give families a better understanding of the school when considering high school options.
2018-19 Financial Audit Report (Approved)
Jeff Ira, Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Partner with Chavan & Associates, LLP, has completed the District's financial audit report for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2019. This is the 13th year of the Government Accounting Standards Board-34 (GASB-34) requirements, and the format of the audit report is similar to the 2018 report.
The District adopted new accounting guidance GASB Statement No. 83, Certain Asset Retirement Obligations, which addresses accounting and financial reporting for certain asset retirement obligations (AROs) and GASB Statement No. 88, Certain Disclosures Related to Debt, Including Direct Borrowings and Direct Placements. This Statement addresses additional information to be disclosed in the notes to the financial statements regarding debt, including unused lines of credit; assets pledged as collateral for the debt; and terms specified in debt agreements related to significant events of default with finance-related consequences, significant termination events with finance-related consequences, and significant subjective acceleration clauses.
Per California Education Code Section 41020.3, the Board is required to accept the audit report by January 31 of each year. A representative of Chavan & Associates will be at the meeting to respond to any questions Board members may have.
School Site Safety Plans (Approved)
A brief update will be provided for the approval of the 2020-2021 Comprehensive School Safety Plans, including safety drills, process, California Education code, and trainings.
The updated Plans are linked below, which include minor changes from previous year. Each year, these Plans must be approved by the Governing Board by March 1, per Education Code 32286.
Staff will address recent concerns regarding lock down drill procedures.
