Alisal Union pushes parents to boost LCAP survey responses as data show gaps for English learners

Staff member (LCAP presenter) told parents and school-site teams that the district has moved the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) parent survey deadline and is running a school-level incentive to increase participation after reporting much lower returns this year compared with last year.

The presenter said last year the district collected about 2,340 survey responses and that this year’s count was about 980. She said she initially moved the deadline to April 2 and later said she would leave the survey open through April 4 so schools would have more time to gather responses. The district is recognizing the school with the most surveys on April 2 and offering a prize; the prize was described as “something special” and not specified.

The LCAP presenter said the survey responses inform the district’s three-year LCAP goals and actions for academics, social-emotional supports and family engagement. She reviewed student performance trends and singled out English learners and students with disabilities as groups needing focused support. The presenter said the district’s English-language development measure shows “56.4 points below the standard” and that math results are “about 75 points below the standard.” She also said English learners’ outcomes declined by roughly 10.2 percentage points this year and that last year about 54.8% of students advanced one year in language development.

District staff asked parent groups at each table to discuss and submit one idea per school for motivating more families to complete the LCAP survey. The presenter directed teams to take seven minutes for the exercise, share ideas across schools, and noted that Alisal (the district) was leading with almost 100 responses at the time of the meeting. Suggested outreach strategies mentioned in small-group reports included: having students help parents complete the survey at school entry; stationing staff in the office to assist parents as they arrive; and assigning teachers to support completion as a classroom activity.

The presenter reviewed school-level color-coded performance indicators and explained the district’s preference that schools show “purple” results, which she said represent one year of student growth. She emphasized that the state and district measure both reclassification and yearly progress: “It is important that students make one year of growth each year,” she said, adding that focusing only on reclassification can miss students who are not making annual progress.

Several individual schools were identified as needing targeted support for English learners, including Chavez, Creekside, Freeman (spelled in the transcript as “Freemat/Freemoth”), Loyar, Monte Bella and Sánchez. The presenter praised Freeman for a two-year pattern of growth in some areas but said Freeman still needs help in English reading.

No formal votes or policy changes were recorded in the transcript. The presenter said she will return in April to report on survey results and to present the draft LCAP changes to the district. She said the LCAP is a three-year plan and that the district will revise actions where needed rather than replace the entire plan. The presenter also told attendees that final recommendations would be presented with a colleague (named in the transcript as “Mrs. Anzo”) in late June.

The meeting record shows active parent and staff participation during the breakout discussion; staff characterized the engagement as part of the LCAP review process rather than as a decision-making vote.