Math, LCAP, and Budget, Oh My!

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The Tuesday, June 1, 2021, LASD Board meeting will start its open session at 7:00pm and it will be held using the Zoom webinar platform.  To register in advance for the meeting, click here.  The entire agenda and supporting documentation for this week's meeting can be found here. 

First up, Jeff Baier will present a Recognition of Retiring Employees for their years of service at LASD.   We will be sad to see them go, but are happy they get to move onto the next stage of their life.  

Next, Jeff will give a Reopening Update more focused on the 21-22 school year.  This is a discussion item and his presentation can be found under agenda H.1 using the link provided above.  LASD plans to be in-person, full days, 5 days a week from day one.  LASD expects the school year will look the same as pre-pandemic with exception of following health department requirements for the safety of students and staff.  This back to normalcy will include: (1) after school programs, (2) hot lunch, (3) parent volunteers allowed on campus again, (4) community and all school events, and (5) junior high sports, among other things. 

Then, Sandra McGonagle will present the TK-5 Math Curriculum for adoption.  This is an action item and her presentation can be found under agenda H.2.  She presented the curriculum to the Board last week at length and thoroughly explained why her staff, 13 of 13 teachers, and 3 out of 4 parents recommended that we adopt the SFUSD math curriculum as LASD's math curriculum for TK-5. I highly recommend you review her presentation from last week (under that agenda's item H.2 here).  Teachers across the district, prior to using this curriculum on an emergency basis because of the pandemic, had to piece together their own individual curriculums for problem solving and conceptual understanding because our prior adopted curriculum only focused on computational skills.  With the SFUSD curriculum, we will have a uniform curriculum across the district for these parts of "doing math" and we will have other uniform supplements for computational skills.  The Board is asked to approve the adoption of SFUSD math curriculum for our TK-5th grade students.  

Randy will next present the Collective Bargaining Agreement with CSEA.  This is an action item and the agreement and supplemental documentation can be found under agenda H.3.  The Board is asked is to approve the agreement to bring the same raise given to our teachers, to LASD's staff members for the 21-22 school year.  

The Citizen's Advisory Committee for Finance (CACF) will then present its Annual Report.  This is a discussion item and their presentation can be found under agenda item H.5.  The CACF has determined that our current financial situation is generally good with reserves staying above target and stable property tax growth expected, but asks us to be prepared for long term financial risks due to the pandemic and to ease the creep of facility maintenance expenses from the general fund by setting aside $5 million from the Measure N bond funds.  

Next Randy will present the Budget Review Committee's (BRC) Recommendation regarding the LASD 21/22 Budget and LCAP.  This is a discussion item and their one page recommendation can be found under agenda H.6.   The BRC recommends that the Board adopt a "workload" budget with no new programs beyond what is required according to state and federal COVID relief funding and have offered ways to ease our expense and increase our revenues.  

Randy will get a break while Sandra presents her LCP and LCAP 2020-21 Annual Update Public Hearing.  This is a discussion item and Sandra's presentation and the Annual Update can be found under agenda item H.7.  The update includes LASD's analysis of its goals and measurable outcomes for those goals.  Because of the pandemic, not every goal had data to analyze, but that did not stop Sandra from developing a thorough update of the school year. 

Sandra will then present the Public Hearing for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) Budget Overview for Parents.  This is a discussion item and her presentation and the Budget Overview can be found under agenda item H.8.  This is a pro forma document that Sandra must input our data on the monies we receive and how we spend them in educating LASD students with a specific call out on how much spend on our most underserved youth. 

Sandra will next finish up by presenting her Public Hearing for the 21-22 Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) .   This is a discussion item and her presentation and the LCAP can be found under agenda item H.9.  The LCAP includes LASD's measurable goals for 2021-2024.  Those goals include: (1) ensuring all students have access to equitable conditions for learning, (2) All LASD students experiencing high quality instruction that results in equitable outcomes and expected yearly growth, (3) providing tiered supports and systems that promote and sustain strong academic growth and positive social/emotional development for all students, and (4) ensuring a safe, healthy, and respectful school environment to maintain engagement, involvement, and satisfaction of students, staff, and parents.    

Last, but definitely not least, Randy is back up to present the Public Hearing for the 2021-22 District Budget.  This is a discussion item and his presentation and the draft budget can be found under agenda item H.10.  The budget relies on the following key assumptions: (1) the county assessor is fairly confident that will see a 4% increase in property tax revenue over the current year, and the same for 22-23 year, (2) BCS will likely get $640,000 of our parcel tax revenues, (3) all COVID monies received are assumed to be one time allotments, (4) the Governor's May Revise includes little to no financial relief for our district (because we are a basic aid/community funded district), (5) LASD expects 6 fewer teachers for next year, and, (6) a 2% contracted for raise for teachers and staff, among many other things.  It is a "thrilling" read; I highly recommend you check it out. 

Please note, this is just the highlights of what is on the agenda for the 6/1/21 meeting.  You can inform yourself about the rest of the agenda at the link provided above.  As always, feel free to email me with any questions.