San Mateo-Foster City board hears year-one update on community schools, grant plans and sustainability

The San Mateo-Foster City School District on Monday received a year-one update on its community schools initiative, including student testimonials, partner enrollment figures and the district's plan to pursue additional grants to sustain programming.

Dr. Cresandra Alawa, assistant superintendent of student services, told trustees the initiative aligns with the district strategic plan and rests on four pillars: integrated student supports, expanded learning time, collaborative leadership and family and community engagement. She reminded the board the district submitted an implementation grant application on Feb. 7 for Abbott, Fiesta Gardens and Burell, and said the California Department of Education's scoring uses a 50/50 split between application quality and meeting an unduplicated-pupil threshold…