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Benicia Unified holds public hearing on draft 2025-26 LCAP; staff to return for adoption
Summary
District staff presented the draft Local Control and Accountability Plan for 2025–26, reviewed goals and required state priorities, and recommended returning the plan for formal adoption next week after public input; several previously one-time-funded programs will not continue in the next LCAP.
Benicia — The Benicia Unified School District held a public hearing June 12 on its draft Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) for the 2025–26 school year and staff recommended the board consider formal adoption at the governing-board meeting next Tuesday after any public comments are incorporated.
Dr. Beatson, staff member, gave an overview of the draft LCAP, outlining the district’s four unchanged LCAP goals (sense of belonging and equity; literacy and humanities; math and STEAM; and supports/interventions) and the process the district follows under the Local Control Funding Formula to tie funding to actions and measurable results. She said the plan includes annual updates, metrics and local indicators, actions and services, an “increased and improved services” section for unduplicated pupils, and a budget summary.
The hearing matters because the LCAP explains how Benicia Unified proposes to spend state LCFF dollars — including supplemental funds that must target low-income students, students experiencing homelessness and English learners — and because next year will be the last year for several one-time state grants the district used since 2020. The district must adopt a final LCAP before the county and state review and approve the plan.
In presenting the annual update, Dr. Beatson said most actions from the current-year LCAP were implemented but noted a few adjustments: the district offered fewer parent workshops than planned and intentionally paused a districtwide grading-for-equity revitalization due to capacity constraints. She highlighted improvement in satisfaction survey responses (from 55% in 2022 to 94.2% most recently), declines in chronic absenteeism and improved graduation rates for students with disabilities, and reduced suspension rates.
Staff also identified some targeted needs: the district has not yet filled a college-and-career center position at Benicia High School; long-term English learners are a newly tracked subgroup on California’s dashboard; and two schools are in federal additional targeted support and intervention status for suspension indicators and thus require monitoring and improvement plans.
Dr. Beatson reviewed funding sources that support LCAP actions: LCFF formula funds, supplemental funds, Title I, one-time state and federal grants (including COVID-era one-time grant dollars the district stretched over multiple years), donations and Proposition 28 arts funding. She warned that roughly $14,000,000 in one-time state grants the district received beginning in 2020 is nearly exhausted and next year will be the last year to spend those dollars.
As a result of funding changes, the presentation listed actions that will not continue in the 2025–26 LCAP unless alternative funding is found: additional teachers that had prevented combination classes at some elementaries, a 20% math coach position at the middle school, a dedicated college-and-career counseling position at Benicia High School, certain literacy-intervention sections, and an elementary STEAM program formerly supported by a Valero donation. Dr. Beatson said the district will form a team to explore other funding sources for programs such as the elementary STEAM initiative.
Dr. Beatson also said the district was accepted into a state grant focused on equity and inclusion professional development; she said the grant includes coaching and will provide some funding for local professional learning.
No public speakers addressed the LCAP during the hearing; Dr. Beatson recommended the board receive public input over the coming days and return the draft for adoption at the next meeting. The board did not take a final vote on the LCAP during the June 12 session.
Board members asked clarifying questions about the three-year LCAP cycle and the district’s outreach; Dr. Beatson said the district updates the LCAP annually and conducts expanded outreach in the full LCAP rewrite cycle.
If the board adopts the LCAP next week, the plan will move to the Solano County Office of Education for county-level review and then to the state for final approval.
Documents and the full draft LCAP were included in the board packet for trustee review.
