Rocklin Unified outlines LCAP priorities with new tutoring trial, mental-health and literacy expansions

The Rocklin Unified School District on Monday presented draft updates to its Local Control and Accountability Plan that maintain a three-goal focus — math achievement, social-emotional supports, and program maintenance — and propose a set of augmentations district staff say would target English learners, students with disabilities and students experiencing homelessness.

Hana, the district’s director of innovation, school programs and accountability, told the board the district would "continue implementing current actions and monitoring outcome data" while trialing new supports intended to close gaps earlier in students’ academic careers. Key proposals include three ‘‘everyday math’’ sections at each comprehensive high school, additional elementary aide time for in-class interventions, math instructional coaches, and targeted tutoring that may include an online platform used during flex or class time.

Hana described the tutoring plan as a trial: "we're seeking to trial that and I think that we have some ideas on how that could be implemented, but it hasn't started yet because there are some specifics that need to be smoothed out." The proposal would test online, on-demand tutoring during the school day to provide one-on-one or small-group support "just in time" for classwork, alongside expanded peer tutoring and afterschool options.

On social-emotional learning and mental health, the draft LCAP seeks to sustain elementary and secondary counseling teams, continue partnerships for school-based mental-health services, expand behavior-response and behavior-analyst staff, and explore a centralized referral process so families can more easily find and access supports as students move between schools.

The plan also includes programmatic work under Goal 3: expanding phonics and science-of-reading practices into second grade, maintaining special-education instructional coaches, offering in-day credit recovery at high schools, and piloting targeted classroom-based PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) interventions.

Trustees pressed staff for more details during question-and-answer, focused on two recurring issues: (1) family-facing communication and how parents would learn what services are available and how to secure a referral, and (2) implementation details for tutoring and intervention staff training. One trustee asked whether parents would receive a clear, consistent ‘‘how to get services’’ guide rather than having to discover different processes as a student changes schools; Hana and staff said they would return with clearer parent-facing referral language and procedures.

Board members also sought clarity about professional development for intervention aides and teachers, how tutoring would be supervised if not provided by the classroom teacher, and whether the district could sustain interventions as one-time COVID-era funding ends. Staff said intervention aides will continue to be supported through professional-learning communities and that the tutoring trial is intended to generate data before any broader rollout.

Next steps: the district will continue advisory-committee feedback this month, present a draft LCAP and proposed expenditures in May, hold required public hearings and bring a final LCAP to the board for approval in June.

The presentation and subsequent trustee discussion highlighted the district’s continued prioritization of math and the additional emphasis on earlier interventions, clearer family communication, and ongoing behavioral and mental-health supports.