Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Schools topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Anaheim Union High District says community-schools model expanding and seeks sustainment amid $25M grant
Summary
AUHSD officials told the board they are scaling a state-funded community-schools model across more campuses, hiring school-based leads and merging site councils with community teams to sustain services; student speakers described classroom projects and social-emotional learning.
The Anaheim Union High School District on Tuesday laid out plans to scale a community-schools model it said has driven gains in graduation, career-pathway completion and student engagement.
District leaders told the board the initiative, supported by a state community-schools grant, currently covers 15 schools and represents about $25 million in funding. Carlos Hernandez, the district's executive director of culture and engagement, said roughly $5 million remains outstanding and that continued state support will influence next steps.
"This is not just about the grant," Hernandez said, arguing the district is changing systems and structures so partnerships and supports can be sustained even if state funding shifts. The plan calls for school-based community-school teacher leads and coordinators, braiding funds (medical billing, ADA, existing staff) and merging school-site councils with community-school teams to reduce duplication and strengthen shared decision-making.
The presentation included a student perspective. Emma Alvarez, a junior who participates in community-based capstone projects, said teachers have linked classroom work to local issues and that student leadership and social-emotional learning have grown. "We have seen students double participation in ASB and real community-based capstones where I learned empathy and civic engagement," she said, later reading a classroom poem about identity and family that staff described as a capstone example.
Board members pressed staff on implementation details: how community issues are integrated into science and math classes, how professional learning will expand to non-grant schools, and how alternative programs (e.g., Cambrigde Virtual Academy) will be supported. Hernandez and other staff pointed to cross-site teacher networks, data-driven "street data" processes, and examples where math classes modeled local drought catchment calculations and then built water-catchment systems.
The district said it will hire additional community-school coordinators for the 2026-27 year and continue professional learning for teacher leads. Officials said they are committed to keeping students and families central to decision-making and will continue bringing community partners into daily classroom work rather than confining that participation to after-school programming.
The board took no formal vote on the presentation beyond questions and accepted the update; trustees asked staff to return with implementation timelines and details for sustaining work if state appropriations change.
