Southern Kern Unified gives update on California Community Schools programs, invites board to statewide summit

Al Mitchell, the district—s grant coordinator, told the Southern Kern Unified School District Board of Trustees that sites are implementing local activities supported by the California Community Schools Partnership Program grant and that each school site has its own allotment of funds.

"I am our grant coordinator. I just need to California Community Schools Partnership Program. So we wanted to give you guys a little bit of an update on what we're doing," Mitchell said, and invited trustees to the program—s EMPower summit in Fresno in June.

Mitchell said the program is broader than single initiatives and described the program—s organizing framework as a "4 by 4" of pillars, key conditions of learning, cornerstone commitments and proven practices. He described district activities supported by the grants: LEGO Education kits for K–8 after‑school clubs at RES and West Park intended to prepare younger students for later robotics and programming classes; in‑school artists residencies; a second annual community fair; and local site initiatives led by site representatives.

"There's a whole plan behind California Community Schools," Mitchell said. "...It's kind of molded around what your community needs." He said the district brought LEGO Education after learning about it at a conference and that the LEGO program is intended to provide foundations that will "roll into robotics later on."

Tanya Long, after‑school coordinator and community school site representative for Rosemont Elementary, described the district—s Angel Tree initiative and other community supports. Long said donations came from staff at firms (named in her remarks as company staff rather than company programs) and community members, and that volunteers wrapped gifts and distributed them.

"We were able to give 230 students, which brought us to a total of 68 different families across our district," Long said, describing the drive as aimed at bringing "some joy to these families."

Long also described a new Student Voice Ambassador Program at the high school level intended to give students who "don't normally have a voice on campus" an organized forum for surveying peers and reporting back to staff. Mitchell and Long said the district runs periodic outreach such as free eye‑exam events coordinated with outside providers and that they are expanding participation in student trips and professional learning events such as AVID and PLC summer institutes.

Board members thanked the presenters and noted the value of student voice and community events. Trustees asked staff to make materials available for review; Mitchell said detailed materials on the California Community Schools framework are in the meeting packet and publicly available online.

The update was informational; no formal action was taken on the items presented.

Less critical details: Mitchell said the fair this year drew roughly 200 people; he described artists in residency at West Park and a large graduating cohort at Tropico High School. Long named private individuals who organized toy drives or donated goods and described school and community partner involvement in the holiday distribution.