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 (historically 80 percent).

The presentation highlighted five participating elementary sites and included short student remarks. "I participate in basketball and so my favorite thing so far has been learn how to play basketball and that we work as a team to help each other," said Jonita, a fifth-grader from Fiesta Gardens. Ivan Pon Gomez, director of PK Bay Area, reported that the partner's programming graduated 205 families in fall 2024 and 102 families in spring 2025, with 43 families participating in both rounds.

Trustees asked how the district would sustain community-school programming if state grants lapse. Dr. Alawa said the district has budgeted on a multiyear basis and will continue to pursue grants, including the Learning Communities for School Success opportunity due in June that targets chronic absenteeism and other aligned priorities. "We are continuing to commit to the Fiesta Gardens community," she said, adding the district budgets on three-year cycles to plan for projected growth.

Board members also raised concerns about partner quality and student safety after news reports involving a former Boys and Girls Club employee. Superintendent Diego O Choa answered that the district vets programs and requires fingerprinting, criminal-background clearances and coordination with HR and business officials before staff work with students. "We do vet all of our programs," he said, adding that coaches and providers also received training from the nursing department.

Site-level staff and community-school specialists described monthly site steering-committee meetings, a district steering committee for cross-site collaboration, professional-development sessions for staff and ongoing family and student surveys that feed the implementation toolkit. School-based family centers were credited with offering translation, registration aid, hygiene supplies and clothing to families in need.

Trustees praised the community-school approach for increasing family participation and said the district should document outcomes and stories to support long-term sustainability should state funding decline. The meeting ended with no public comments and a motion to adjourn.

The district plans to return to the board with a fall-offering snapshot after steering committees finalize program selections. A formal timeline note: annual performance and budget reviews compiled by site steering committees are due at the end of June.