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Compton, Castro Valley, San Diego present local recovery strategies: tutoring, wellness centers and community schools
Summary
Superintendents and school leaders described district‑level recovery work: Compton reported expanded wellness centers and improved outcomes, Castro Valley emphasized professional development and literacy programs, and San Diego highlighted community schools and family engagement.
Three district leaders and a San Diego resource teacher described local recovery strategies and results for the committee.
Compton Unified Superintendent Darren Brawley said his district implemented hybrid models, expanded tutoring and learning centers, and grew social‑emotional supports. He reported gains: higher math and ELA outcomes in recent years, a rise in graduation from about 88% to 93%, increased A–G course completion to about 60% of students, and chronic absenteeism falling from about 23.6% (2023) to 15.2% (most recent year) with continuing progress. Brawley said Compton expanded wellness centers from about 10 to 30 sites to address mental health needs and that targeted interventions and superintendent‑level data reviews drove improvements.
Partvin Ahmadi, superintendent of Castro Valley Unified, described actions in a diverse district of about 9,500 students: one‑to‑one devices, new literacy materials and professional development, online tutoring in multiple languages, and efforts to refine grading policy and synchronous instruction. He told the committee Castro Valley has invested in curriculum alignment, teacher development and targeted interventions that have helped classroom practice.
Kelly Hagan, a community‑schools resource teacher in San Diego Unified, outlined the district’s community‑school expansion from 5 to 25 sites since 2022, with plans to add 10 more next year. San Diego’s model uses four pillars—family engagement, integrated student supports (including on‑campus health and mental‑health services), expanded learning, and collaborative leadership—so sites can tailor resources to local needs. Hagan said community schools have contributed to improved attendance and smaller chronic‑absence rates at specific schools and have strengthened family trust and student supports.
Why it matters: District examples show how local combinations of tutoring, targeted intervention, mental health supports and community partnerships can produce measurable recovery in some contexts. Speakers urged flexibility in state programs (for example, allowing some expanded‑learning funds to be used during the school day for the neediest students) and continued state funding for substitutes, school nurses and other positions.
Ending: District leaders asked lawmakers to preserve flexible funding, continue investments in professional development, and remove administrative barriers to sustain recovery work.
