Parents and attendance staff urge Sac City Unified to spare CARE Team and re-evaluate LDV program before cuts

Two public commenters told the board on Feb. 19 that proposed budget reductions threaten programs that directly support student attendance and family access to services.

Jennifer Kretchman, identified as director of student attendance and engagement and a parent, thanked the CBO for the presentation and urged the board to preserve the Office of Student Attendance and Engagement (the CARE Team). "Attendance is not just a student service metric, it is the core driver of district revenue," Kretchman said, explaining that when students are present the district receives funding and that the CARE Team's outreach recovers both attendance and audit‑protecting documentation.

Lucy Lewis, a child‑welfare and attendance liaison whose remarks were read by Kretchman, said the attendance department has been entirely grant funded since 2018 and that staff have stewarded funds carefully. Lewis told the board the department never had to return money and described intervening to stop a state billing for $30,000 she said was in error.

Parent Trevor Taniguchi urged the board not to assume the LDV Children's Center is expendable. He said the program is overenrolled and appears to be a community draw; he asked the district to produce the financial data he requested before finalizing cuts. "Common sense tells us that you shouldn't cut a program that could be self sustaining," Taniguchi said.

The board did not make a final decision on either program at the meeting; members and staff agreed that program‑level financial details, impact statements and position‑control information must be provided at the March 5 informational update so the board can assess program viability before any final action.

Next steps: staff will provide program‑level financial breakdowns and impact statements on March 5 as part of the district's requested materials.