San Bernardino City Unified cites improved graduation, lower suspensions but chronic absenteeism remains a concern

San Bernardino City Unified School District officials reported measurable gains on the district’s 2025 California School Dashboard on Tuesday while flagging continuing work needed to reduce chronic absenteeism.

Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Mrs. Applegate said the district has “no areas that are showing in red,” and highlighted that graduation and college-and-career indicators have moved into green, while suspension rates have dropped into green as well. Dr. Cleveland, who walked the board through the dashboard methodology, added that “remaining in yellow is a huge celebration” for English language arts and mathematics, where the district has maintained yellow-level performance.

The presentation cited multi-year progress in several indicators: a roughly 5% overall gain since post‑COVID testing resumed, a 4.3% increase in students meeting or exceeding grade‑level standards in English language arts, about a 3.3% three‑year gain in math proficiency, and a substantial year‑over‑year increase in the college‑and‑career metric (presenters reported a 6–7.6 percentage‑point jump this year). Long‑term English learner counts were reported to have fallen sharply (from roughly 4,000 to about 1,900), a milestone officials described as “considerable.”

Administrators attributed gains to a multi‑tiered system of supports that includes scope & sequence alignment, reading specialists and coaches at every school, two additional instructional teachers per site for small‑group reading and math intervention, literacy coaching tied to the science of reading, PBIS/restorative practices to reduce suspensions, and targeted investments for focus schools. Mrs. Applegate described district coordination with business services and student services to preserve instructional supports while managing budget constraints.

Board members pressed staff for detail on how the state measures college‑and‑career readiness and on the root causes of chronic absenteeism. In response, staff said a majority of students qualify for the college‑and‑career metric through A–G readiness but that the measure also accepts multiple combinations of criteria, including dual enrollment and industry certifications. On absenteeism, presenters said causes include chronic health conditions and safety or bullying concerns at some sites; they outlined planned interventions such as an AI attendance‑response pilot to notify parents quickly, expanded Saturday and after‑school supports, and an updated independent‑study process to help students remain enrolled.

Superintendent Amicio Ariano and educational services staff emphasized the district’s steady, incremental approach and said they will continue to prioritize resources for targeted instruction and early literacy.

What’s next: administrators told the board they will provide additional disaggregated data and a more detailed root‑cause analysis of chronic absenteeism in a follow‑up report, and will return with implementation plans for the AI attendance system and independent‑study improvements.