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Board approves Franklin High SIPA after contested review over missing annual evaluation
Summary
Stockton Unified trustees narrowly approved Franklin High School’s Title I School Plan (SIPA) after staff found missing documentation for a required annual site-council review; the plan initially failed a vote before a trustee changed their vote to allow the school to use Title I funds.
The Stockton Unified School District board on April 21 approved Franklin High School's 2025–26 School Site Plan for Student Achievement (SIPA) after a contentious review of required documentation.
State and federal program staff told the board Franklin’s SIPA met many compliance elements but lacked documentary evidence that the school-site council completed a required annual evaluation of the prior year’s plan. The missing “annual review” date was the focus of several rounds of edits, staff reminders and multiple board hearings dating back to June; staff said the absence of recorded evidence that the required site-council annual evaluation occurred meant the district could not honestly certify that review had been done.
During debate, Vice President Shauna Priest and Clerk Patrick Martin said the absence of clear documentation was serious and raised concerns about accountability. Superintendent-level staff and state/federal program staff described supports already provided to Franklin — mandatory SIPA and site-council training for administrators, coaching on annual evaluations, submission of meeting minutes, and new live-document tracking for SIPA updates.
At roll call the motion initially failed 4–3. After discussion about the impact on students, one trustee announced they would change their vote so the school could spend Title I funds; that change produced a final 4–3 approval. President Sophia Cologne cast the deciding yes vote along with Trustees Donald Donaire, Frank Silva and (after the change) Kita Stevens; Vice President Shauna Priest, Clerk Patrick Martin and Trustee Isabelle Perez voted no.
District staff told the board that, going forward, state and federal program staff will have a clearer escalation path and that sites will be required to submit fuller supporting documentation for site-council actions. Staff also said the district will revise and clarify the SIPA recommendations-and-assurances page to make the expectations and required signatures clearer for parents and administrators.
The board’s action allows Franklin to access its Title I allocations; staff cautioned that the district will continue monitoring compliance and is instituting mandatory training and process changes to prevent similar problems at other schools.
