The Newhall School District governing board heard an update last week about the district’s goals that were set forth in its Local Control Accountability Plan, or LCAP.
The LCAP is a three-year plan that describes the goals, actions, services and expenditures to support positive student outcomes that address state and local priorities, according to California Department of Education.
The LCAP provides an opportunity for local educational agencies like NSD to share their stories of how, what and why programs and services are selected to meet their local needs.
“As we look at our student outcomes, both academically and in other areas, we are guided by the state requirements of the accountability system and the state dashboard,” said Dee Jamison, assistant superintendent of instructional services. “There are particular areas we must look at, and others that we may choose to focus in on.”
During the presentation at the meeting, the board was shown that for the 2018-19 school year, the Newhall School District had their greatest areas of progress in math achievement, English learner support and the response to intervention programs.
“We will continue to engage in the best practices that brought us success in the first place,” said Jamison. “So, while a focus may not be as strong, best practices remain, and areas of need are never abandoned.”
The district also noted some recurring themes for areas of improvement through the use of an in-person electronic survey. Each person taking the survey was also encouraged to give additional suggestions and feedback for future actions, expansion or elimination of current actions, or any other topic they wanted to share, according to Jamison.
The district received feedback on the “need to provide additional support to special education teachers and students, increase counseling time, continue our work on the instructional framework which guides our best practices, provide more residencies in the arts, and continue our focus on ensuring that all of our students are afforded a comprehensive educational program … which includes strong academics, music, art, PE and extracurricular opportunities,” Jamison said.
“The board was pleased with the LCAP presentation and with the increased involvement of parents and staff this year,” said NSD Board President Sue Solomon. “The district takes pride in the systems in place that continuously evaluate and improve student learning, as well as the professional development in place that supports teachers and administration.”
