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Kern County reports modest CASP gains; board approves 2025–26 court and community school plans
Summary
Kern County Office of Education staff presented 2024–25 CASP/CAST results showing modest four-year growth across several student groups; trustees approved the 2025–26 school plans for court and community schools and passed routine consent items including diplomas.
Kern County education officials on Thursday presented countywide results from the 2024–25 California student assessments and won board approval for the 2025–26 school plans for court and community schools.
Dr. Eddie Gonzalez, KCSOS executive director for student programs, told trustees that 39% of Kern County students met or exceeded English language arts proficiency in 2024–25, a slight year-over-year gain and part of a four-year trend of modest improvement. He told the board the county also posted encouraging gains in distance-from-standard metrics and singled out growth for socioeconomically disadvantaged students, homeless students and foster youth.
"We had 39 percent of students in Kern County achieve that goal," Gonzalez said during the presentation, noting the county’s four-year growth trend outpaced state growth in several subgroup measures even as overall proficiency remains below the state average. The presentation also showed multi-year gains in math and science, though proficiency levels in those subjects remain lower than the statewide percentages.
Assistant Superintendent Desiree Van Flew reviewed 2025–26 student achievement plans for KCSOS court and community schools, highlighting that small and transient student populations in court schools limit CAST reporting and that STAR Renaissance assessments provide more frequent progress monitoring for those programs. Van Flew said the plans prioritize literacy, numeracy and social-emotional supports and rely on CTE, school social workers and targeted interventions funded in part by LCAP and comprehensive-support allocations.
Trustees then moved to approve the 2025–26 school plans for the court and community schools; the chair called for a voice vote and the motion passed. Earlier in the meeting trustees approved routine consent items, including graduation diplomas.
During questions trustees asked about slide formatting, realistic proficiency goals and whether KCSOS teams change intervention strategies year to year; staff said the county now uses a regional system to share resources and the Kern Integrated Data System to make earlier, data-informed instructional decisions. KCSOS staff also noted work with regional partners and targeted professional learning to help districts facing persistent challenges.
The board closed the presentation portion of the meeting, moved through a brief consent agenda and heard trustee reports about community events. The 2025–26 school plans will guide programming and funding decisions for KCSOS court and community school students in the coming year.
