Galt Joint Union Elementary board approves LCAP after review of spring reading and MAP data

The Galt Joint Union Elementary School District board unanimously approved the district's 2025–26 Local Control and Accountability Plan on May 26 after a staff presentation of spring reading and MAP assessment results.

Cleo del Toro Anguiano, director of curriculum and human resources, told the board the datasets should be interpreted “with caution,” noting different grade-level assessments measure different foundational reading skills. She told trustees the metrics presented reflect the percent of students who met all end-of-year DRA targets and that meeting every target is required to be counted in the dataset.

The presentation highlighted a recurring issue in first grade: many students met reading benchmarks except for rate (words-per-minute). At the district level staff said 14 first-grade students met all other benchmarks but missed the rate target; a similar pattern affected 10 second graders. Staff said that single metric materially lowered percent‑met figures for those cohorts.

Lake Canyon Elementary drew particular attention. District staff reported that one combined first–second grade classroom of 24 students met every MAP growth target and that “almost all” of those students reached the 90th percentile in both reading and math by spring. Judy (last name not specified), a site administrator who spoke about the class, attributed the outcome to small-group instruction, supplementary resources and sustained community volunteer support; she noted the class did not include students with some learning support plans that are present in other classes. Board member Matthew Ward was identified during the presentation as a frequent volunteer in that classroom.

District principals and site leaders discussed implications for instruction. At River Oaks, staff said kindergarten expectations differ from first grade because fluency (rate) is not measured in kinder; first grade is the first time rate is a required benchmark. Dual language immersion (DLI) students were reported to have strong results in Spanish-language DRA administration, and staff said about half of Transitional Bilingual program students met English DRA benchmarks after limited English-instruction time.

Board members and staff said next steps include examining how much in-school reading time students receive, aligning first-grade instruction to the higher end‑of‑year fluency expectations, and allocating funds for targeted interventions. The board made no specific funding direction during the discussion beyond approving the LCAP.

The board vote to approve the 2025–26 LCAP was made by Trustee Matthew Ward, seconded by Trustee Annette Coonsie, and carried unanimously.