Southern Kern board reviews 2025–26 school plans, emphasizes ELD, attendance and college readiness

Southern Kern Unified School District board members heard first readings of Single Plans for Student Achievement (SPSA) from multiple school sites on the district's curriculum agenda, with administrators outlining goals to raise state assessment scores, expand English‑learner supports and boost attendance and parent engagement.

The SPSA presentations, given as a first reading by Dr. Mendez, the district's superintendent and curriculum lead, described school-level targets and strategies for 2025——26 and noted the plans will return for subsequent readings and formal action on May 7 and May 21. The plans presented draw on school-site councils, English Learner Advisory Committees and teacher leadership teams, the superintendent said.

District and site administrators said the plans emphasize five recurring priorities: increasing college- and career-readiness, strengthening family engagement and social-emotional learning, expanding supports for English learners (ELs) including LTELs (long-term English learners), narrowing achievement gaps in math and science, and improving chronic attendance.

At Rosemond High the SPSA sets a target to raise the college- and career-readiness rate by 5 percentage points annually from a reported baseline of 32.2 percent; school leaders said strategies include expanded AVID implementation, additional AP and pre-AP offerings and growth in CTE pathways. Site presenters described interim assessments, math clinics and expanded AP/pre-AP access as key strategies to raise district CAST and CAASPP results.

Presentations from other sites mirrored those priorities. An Abraham Lincoln speaker said the site will push concurrent enrollment and early-college options to lift college-readiness and will add direct-instruction classes and credit-recovery supports to raise the graduation rate from a reported 65 percent toward a 5-point annual improvement. Tropical Middle School proposed a 15-point gain goal in CAST scores and plans to adopt I-Ready interventions, expand restorative practices and increase parent volunteers and SEL communications. Elementary-site presenters emphasized PLCs, targeted interventions (I-Ready, IXL), and expanded paraeducator and interventionist support; one elementary principal noted the school had qualified as a California Distinguished School after showing growth across student groups.

District staff clarified the SPSA process during the meeting: sites present plans for informational first readings, the board will hear a second reading May 7, and the board will be asked to take action at a third reading on May 21. Administrators also described supports from the county office (KCSOS) including curriculum coaches, ELD professional development and Solution Tree coaching.

Board members and presenters discussed several subgroup-focused details during Q&A: how LTELs are defined (students who have been ELs for five or more years), the district's use of designated and integrated ELD strategies, plans for peer mediation and alternative-to-suspension rooms, and the goalsetting process used in PLCs. Site presenters also provided numeric baselines and targets where available (for example, an elementary site reported raising ELA scores from 22 percent to 48 percent on its local benchmark over the year and described an aim to continue growth through targeted PLC work).

The presentations were informational; board action is scheduled at future meetings. The school-site plans form the site-level portion of the district's improvement strategy and will inform summer programming, staffing allocations and professional-development priorities.