The new three-year Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) plan for 2024-27 is meant to improve on the previous plan and support student populations that are struggling, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said. The LCAP is mandated statewide and consists of schools using their local control of state funding to achieve eight priorities outlined by the state, she added.
MUSD organized the state’s eight priorities—specifically concerning students’ conditions of learning, student outcomes, and engagement—into three overarching goals and 40 specific actions, according to Executive Director of Learning and Innovation Priti Johari, who also leads the LCAP Advisory Committee.
“In a nutshell, I see the LCAP as a way to capture the voices of all who make up our MUSD community, with very intentional strategies to meet the needs of every single learner,” Jordan said.
To create the LCAP for the next three years, an LCAP committee with over 40 participants was organized and established, Jordan said. This committee includes parents, community members, board members, teachers, and students, she added.
“This is the biggest advisory committee that we’ve had to date,” Jordan said.
To gather data, the LCAP Thought Exchange was sent to every community member of the district, Johari said. This year, the LCAP advisory committee focused on creative methods of outreach, she added. The committee ultimately received 1407 responses to their survey, according to the presentation at the LCAP study session during the MUSD board meeting on May 14.
“We have a large, diverse, committed (LCAP) committee that can then reach out to specific groups,” Johari said.
In addition to the Thought Exchange, 25 LCAP Metrics, four district committees, and three additional surveys are data sources that influence the LCAP, MHS English teacher Brett Webber said in the study session.
“One thing that really struck me was how much input seemed to come together (…) and coalesce in this report,” Webber said at the study session.
The LCAP is designed every three years and updated annually, according to Johari.
“Right now, it’s really about acting on the feedback that we got and turning those into actions,” Johari said.
The 2024-27 LCAP’s first goal concerns bridging the gap in curriculum for students of low socioeconomic status, students with home insecurities, and English learners, who are designated as either English learners (ELs) or Long-Term English learners (LTELs); job-embedded professional development for teachers is a key factor in achieving this goal, according to the presentation at the study session.
“The first goal is focused on instruction: making sure that all of our students have highly qualified teachers, standards-based instruction, and that we have culturally responsive and inclusive environments for our students,” Johari said in the study session.
The LCAP’s second goal concerns students’ social-emotional health, Johari said during the study session. Mental health was the number one concern of all MUSD community members in this year’s Thought Exchange, she added.
“When we invest in mental health support, we will see the suspensions come down, we will see our SPED (special education) numbers decrease, because it’s really hard to tease out the difference between a learning disability and trauma,” Nicole Steward said in the study session.
The LCAP’s third goal seeks to increase collaboration between parents and school educators, Johari said during the study session.
“Parents in particular are key partners in childrens’ education,” Johari said. “(We will be) working with them both on decision making but also on skill building for them.”
The new LCAP involves considering community partnerships beyond parents, Johari said.
“We are looking to have work-based learning or internships (with the Innovation Campus),” Johari said. “So that will be one of the (…) specific actions that we start working on next year: reaching out to our local community, local businesses, and setting up internships for students.”
The funding for the LCAP is planned for in an extensive spreadsheet that lists the specific goals within the three main goals, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Wendy Zhang said. In determining how to allocate funds, the LCAP is also impacted by the California state deficit, she added.
“Our budget will reflect on that (deficit) while we work on our 24-25 budget development,” Zhang said.
The LCAP is ultimately meant to better document MUSD’s priorities as a school district, Zhang said.
“It really is a plan that’s focused on the needs of all and doesn’t gloss over the needs of the few,” Jordan said.