Jefferson Union presents midyear LCAP update, highlights equity work and attendance concerns

The Jefferson Union High School District presented a midyear update on its Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) Tuesday, outlining equity-focused initiatives, staffing and recruitment efforts, ongoing training in equitable grading practices, and persistent concerns about chronic absenteeism and suspension rates.

District staff framed the LCAP as a three-year strategy that ties goals, actions, metrics and spending to student outcomes, with midyear data and spending presented to the board for review. The presentation emphasized work to strengthen school culture, increase representation among certificated staff, expand student access to Advanced Placement courses and career technical programs, and improve mental-health supports across campuses.

At a nut-graf level, the district said it has launched a coordinated equity team, is piloting equitable-grading professional development, and is tracking several key indicators — including chronic absenteeism, suspension rates for specific student groups, AP enrollment and reclassification of English learners — to measure progress toward LCAP goals.

In the body of the presentation, staff reported the following notable points and data provided to trustees:

- Equity and participation: A district equity team of five staff members (including the superintendent and instructional leaders) was described as leading a three-year effort. Staff said more than 2,700 students completed a survey about whether they feel seen, heard and valued, and schools have begun targeted listening sessions for Black and Latino students. The district said some pilot efforts include peer-support tools, microaggression training for staff and a school-based program to connect students with adults.

- Recruiting and representation: Staff described traditional recruiting (EdJoin, job fairs) plus targeted outreach to historically Black colleges and universities and revised marketing materials. Using the districts representation metric, staff reported an increase in Hispanic teacher representation from 0.32 to 0.39 (no raw counts provided in the presentation). Trustees asked for raw head-counts to accompany percentage figures.

- Mental-health staffing and supports: The district reported 13.4 full-time-equivalent mental-health staff and 11 mental-health interns placed in schools through a Bridge program. Staff said many interns are district graduates and a majority of recent placements are people of color.

- Attendance and discipline: Staff reported chronic absenteeism at about 19 percent districtwide and said the district has seen increases in suspension rates for some groups, including Pacific Islander and Black students; one figure referenced was an increase of about 5.3 percentage points for a specific group, though presenters and trustees noted that small counts at some schools can cause percentage swings. Staff defined chronic absenteeism using the district threshold presented: missing 10 percent or more of school days (about 18 days) regardless of excusal status.

- Teaching and learning: The presentation highlighted professional development in Universal Design for Learning, common formative assessments, and an equitable-grading initiative in which teachers pilot a grading practice for four to six weeks and then reflect on outcomes. Staff said 25 percent of teachers have participated so far and that the district plans mandatory training for newly hired permanent teachers in the coming year.

- Access to advanced coursework and career pathways: Staff reported increases in AP and dual-enrollment participation for underrepresented groups, including a notable gain in Pacific Islander students and a 12-point increase for students with disabilities in AP enrollment. Jefferson High reported a partnership with San Francisco State University for an on-campus admit day; staff said 64 percent of the current 12th-grade cohort received admission offers from San Francisco State. The district said 70 percent of the graduating class of 2024 enrolled in a two- or four-year college pathway, a 2 percentage-point increase over the prior year and a 19-point gain for Black students.

Trustees asked for more disaggregated data (raw student counts alongside percentages) and for comparisons of outcomes (for example, grades and standardized scores) for chronically absent students versus the general population. Staff committed to providing additional data cuts and to running further analyses on program cohorts where teachers have completed equitable-grading training.

Board members also questioned suspension drivers and alternatives to exclusionary discipline. Staff described efforts to reduce suspensions, including counseling, restorative practices and analysis of root causes at the school level, and said suspensions remain a measure of last resort for safety threats.

Less-urgent items in the presentation included continued work on communication tools (a redesigned website and consolidated family messaging platform), translation and interpretation services for families, and a sustainability committee that will report back when its work is further established.

The presentation was informational; trustees did not take a binding vote to adopt new policy during the midyear update, but they did approve routine consent and agenda items elsewhere in the meeting and asked staff to return with requested data.

Looking ahead, staff said the LCAP team will continue rollout of equity-focused professional development, pursue targeted recruitment and report back to the board with the requested disaggregated metrics in a future meeting.