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Southern Kern Unified holds public hearing on proposed three‑year LCAP and $15 million plan for unduplicated students
Summary
District staff presented the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), a three‑year budget and program plan of about $15 million that prioritizes services for low‑income students, foster youth and English learners and will return to the board as an action item in June.
Southern Kern Unified held a public hearing Tuesday on its proposed Local Control and Accountability Plan, a three‑year budget and program road map that district staff said carries roughly $15,000,000 in targeted spending.
District administrator Mister Weitzler, who led the presentation, told the board the LCAP focuses on the state’s eight Local Control Funding Formula priorities and targets “unduplicated students,” meaning low‑income pupils, foster youth and English learners. “The LCAP is a 3 year educational plan. It comes with a significant budget of approximately $15,000,000,” Weitzler said.
The presentation outlined four district goals: improve academic achievement, develop a healthy school climate, engage families and community, and an “equity multiplier” for alternative education sites. Staff described specific actions and associated budgets, including a $1,349,000 career technical education (CTE) allocation to expand pathways to 14; $991,000 for after‑school programs; $2,282,000 for transportation and added routes; $1,216,000 for campus safety officers; and facilities projects including $2.5 million for new locker rooms and $3,807,000 for a weight room and dance studio at the high school.
Weitzler said academic supports were being expanded: reading intervention (a $416,000 budget using Success for All, i‑Ready and Read180 by grade band), a $796,000 one‑to‑one device budget that includes purchase of 600 Chromebooks to refresh out‑of‑warranty units, and a $450,000 interventionist budget to support targeted students. The LCAP includes a new $240,000 action to add elementary English‑language development (ELD) teachers at two sites and a $160,000 increase for supplies to students and families; classroom teacher supply budgets would rise from $350 to $400 per classroom.
Weitzler flagged academic areas of concern: English learner progress was described as low, with 34.1% of EL students showing progress in the prior year — a decline of nearly 10 percentage points districtwide — and only 16% of high‑school ELs improving, a decline he characterized as more than 32 percentage points. He said the district has hired two new ELD teachers, one at RES and one at West Park, to address those results. By contrast, graduation rate was cited as a strength at 90.5%, up 6.3 percentage points.
Staff described community input used in drafting the plan: a 332‑respondent LCAP survey (mostly open‑ended), school site councils, the district English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC/DAC), and a district LCAP committee. Weitzler said the equity multiplier actions for alternative education schools (Rare Earth and Abraham Lincoln) would continue, including a mental‑health therapist and tutoring budget.
No board action was taken at the public hearing; staff told trustees the LCAP will return to the board as an action item at the June meeting. Weitzler closed the presentation by inviting questions; none were taken during the hearing portion recorded in the transcript.
The public hearing and the presentation provide the formal feedback record that staff said will be folded into the final LCAP draft before the board votes in June.
