On Tuesday, February 13, the Alameda Unified School District Board of Education met with a data-filled agenda that included an update on 2023 California School Dashboard Results, update on School Level Initiatives to Support African American Achievement at Lincoln Middle School, and a Report on Budget Priorities, Challenges, and Constraints for 2024 and Beyond: Mid-Year LCAP Report. The consent calendar included approval of School Accountability Report Cards for the 2022-2023 school year.
As the meeting began, the chamber was filled with teachers and school staff wearing union red. Under the public comment section, many members spoke about the difficulty of living on a teacher’s salary in high-cost California and how many extra hours teachers work. They advocated for increased pay and benefits. The three-year teacher’s contract expires June 30, 2025 while the support staff contract expires June 30, 2024.
School district dashboard results
The Update on 2023 California School District Dashboard Results was presented by Lindsey Jenkins-Stark, Senior Manager of Data, Assessment, and Research. The California School Dashboard is an online tool that displays the performance of school districts on a set of state measures. AUSD is performing better than the state measures in English Language Arts, Mathematics, graduation rates, and suspension rates, but not in the area of Chronic Absenteeism.
Supporting African American achievement at Lincoln Middle School
The Update on School Level Initiatives to Support African American Achievement at Lincoln Middle School was presented by Lincoln principal Sheila SatheWarner. This program has many components, some of which were not presented in detail at the meeting due to time constraints. One component is to hire teachers and administrative staff of color. A second component, “Disrupt Text,” involves four principles:
- Continuously interrogate our own biases and how they inform our thinking.
- Center Black, Indigenous, and voices of color in literature.
- Apply a critical literacy lens to our teaching practices.
- Work in community with other antiracist educators, especially Black, Indigenous, and other educators of color.
A third component of the program is racial reconciliation, which includes reckoning with past racism, apologizing and asking forgiveness, and advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion. And a fourth component is affinity groups based on racial identity.
Budget priorities, challenges, and constraints for 2024 and beyond
The Mid-Year LCAP Report was presented by Kirsten Zazo, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services. The Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) is a three-year plan that describes the goals, actions, services, and expenditures required to support positive student outcomes that address state and local priorities. Most of the 2023-2024 mid-year data metrics showed an improvement over the 2021-2022 data. It was noted that a 1% decline in Average Daily Attendance causes a loss of academic progress for students and a financial loss of $1 million for the school district.
School accountability report cards
The School Accountability Report Cards for the 2022-2023 school year included reports for each high school, middle school, and elementary school. A large amount of data—292 pages—includes enrollment by race, socioeconomically disadvantaged, percentage of students meeting the standards for English Language Arts and for Mathematics, and the Chronic Absenteeism rate (missing 10% or more of school days), among other reports. Overall, schools that had a higher number of socioeconomically disadvantaged students had higher chronic absenteeism and a lower percentage of students meeting standards in English and Math.
Joyce Boyd is a Certified Public Accountant, Alameda resident, and parent of an AUSD student. She is on the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee, a PTA board member, a prior PTA Council board member, and school site council member. Reach her at [email protected].
