Santa Clara Unified superintendent outlines 100-day findings, urges immediate action on equity and fiscal stewardship
Loading...
Summary
Superintendent Damon Wright presented a 100-day report highlighting strengths and gaps across the district, pressed for urgent action on instructional coherence and equity (including a 49-point a-g completion gap between Asian and Latinx students), and proposed timelines for strategic planning and a rightsizing process amid a projected $30 million deficit.
Superintendent Damon Wright on Nov. 13 delivered a 100-day report to the Santa Clara Unified School District Board of Trustees that summarized community listening sessions, student achievement data and recommended near-term actions to address disparities and fiscal pressures.
Wright told the board he had conducted five town-hall style engagement events, numerous school visits and one-on-one meetings and attached a 40-page summary to the board agenda. ‘‘We had 5 engagement events that were town hall style,’’ Wright said, summarizing his outreach. He said the process revealed strengths — program offerings, strong relationships and active volunteers — but also persistent growth areas that require immediate attention.
The report called out steep disparities in outcomes between student groups. Wright said the district's Asian and Latinx student cohorts show ‘‘a through g completion rate, 49 percentage point difference between our Asian students and our Latinx students,’’ a metric used to assess readiness for CSU and UC applications. He also cited gaps on standardized assessments (30 to 40 points in some years) and differences in chronic absenteeism (10 to 20 points).
Wright identified five priority themes: instructional excellence and coherence, whole-child wellness and inclusion, systems for collaboration and leadership, improved communication and accountability, and fiscal stewardship. On fiscal matters he said the district is projected to deficit spend approximately $30 million next school year and recommended a district rightsizing process to align staffing and facilities with enrollment and budget conditions.
To tackle instructional coherence, Wright proposed establishing a district-wide Tier 1 instructional framework and an MTSS (multi-tiered system of supports) audit. He recommended a public-facing accountability dashboard, department ROI metrics by March 2026, and completing a mission/vision/strategic planning process between December 2025 and May 2026.
Trustees responded with general support and questions about implementation timelines. Trustee Rodterman praised the outreach and asked for a copy of Wright's slide timeline; Trustee Muirhead requested regular updates showing how actions will be sequenced alongside the ongoing rightsizing process. Student trustee Suresh said students at recent listening sessions were encouraged by the proposed emphasis on mental health and academic supports.
Wright said some timelines are tentative and would be finalized during strategic planning, but he pledged to share the report and interim timelines with the board. "We're gonna walk our talk," Wright said, framing the next steps as concrete actions rather than restated goals.
The board did not take any formal vote on Wright's recommendations at the meeting; trustees asked staff to return with materials and updates in future meetings.
