Lynwood Unified reviews midyear LCAP; district reports drop in chronic absenteeism

Lynwood Unified School District trustees heard a midyear Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) update on Feb. 26 that laid out spending by goal, early outcome data and plans for one‑time learning‑recovery funds.

The presentation, led by Dr. Senko, director of equity, access and instructional services, and Adam Jaquette, educational enrichment services coordinator, outlined goals for academic achievement, English learner supports, targeted student services and family engagement and tied each goal to expenditure figures and district metrics. “The Local Control Accountability Plan calls for us to do a mid year update each year,” Dr. Senko said during the presentation.

Why it matters: the LCAP governs how the district spends funds earmarked for English learners, low‑income students and foster youth under California’s Local Control Funding Formula. Trustees said they wanted a clearer dashboard to evaluate whether investments are producing the intended gains for specific student groups.

What presenters told the board - Expenditures and actions: presenters said they had spent a little over $1,500,000 on Goal 2 (English learner supports), about $11,500,000 on Goal 3 (targeted supports) and about $3,400,000 on Goal 4 (college and career supports) as of January; the presenters described Goal 5 family‑engagement spending as roughly $124,000 and said Goal 6 (an equity multiplier designation for Vista High School) had expenditures described in the presentation as “not quite $1,800” (the figure in the slide deck was not read verbatim). These dollar figures were presented as midyear expenditure totals and were not broken down line by line during the meeting.

- Attendance and graduation: staff highlighted a reported decrease in chronic absenteeism from about 40.3% in 2022–23 to about 21.4% this fall, which presenters attributed to PBIS programs, community liaisons and targeted case management. “We were legitimately at 40 percent. We are now at 21 percent,” Dr. Senko said. Staff also cited a five‑year graduation rate that they said had risen to about 82%, noting the district was reported to be exceeding the state average by roughly nine percentage points.

Board questions and data concerns Trustees pressed staff on metric definitions and data quality. One trustee flagged the college‑and‑career indicator, which showed a 0% baseline in the earlier year and a midyear value of 23% for Black or African American students. The trustee asked whether the baseline was a data error; Dr. Senko said the discrepancy likely reflected missing data in 2022–23 and explained that the college‑and‑career measure is a composite of six components — examples cited included AP participation and A–G completion — and that staff would provide the six underlying measures.

Parent engagement and program evaluation A public commenter and a trustee asked staff to clarify how many distinct parents participated in the district’s 400+ events and whether the district should prioritize building internal teacher capacity over outside consultants for professional development. Dr. Senko pointed listeners to the full LCAP posted on the district website and said staff would provide more detailed metric breakdowns on request.

Next steps Trustees asked staff to develop a consolidated dashboard with multiple indicators so the board can more easily track progress across student groups; staff said the full LCAP is available on the district website and that the district will provide the requested deeper dive into the six measures making up the college‑and‑career indicator.

Reporting and evidence: the presentation slides and the midyear LCAP referenced in the meeting are posted on the district website, and board members requested additional metric detail at a future meeting.