Stockton Unified trustees take part in CSBA governance workshop, set LCAP and evaluation calendar

Stockton Unified trustees and district leaders spent a Sunday morning in a California School Boards Association–facilitated workshop reviewing governance practices, the district’s Local Control Accountability Plan and the year’s key decisions, including the superintendent evaluation and labor negotiations.

The workshop, led by CSBA consultant Bob Kain, framed the board’s primary role as setting direction and holding the district accountable. Kain urged trustees to adopt "success for each and every student" as a guiding aim and described five characteristics of high-performing districts: clear expectations, conditions for success, accountability, collective will and shared learning. "I just think this is the most important work in the world," Kain said, explaining why trustees’ decisions matter for student outcomes.

Superintendent Rodriguez described Stockton Unified’s approach to the LCAP as a data-driven, community-engagement process. Rodriguez said the district has broken the LCAP into infographics and regular data dives with parents and staff to monitor key performance indicators such as chronic absenteeism and literacy. "I believe that education is the great equalizer," she said, noting the district is using the LCAP to link district goals to school-level Single Plans for Student Achievement (SPSAs).

Trustees spent part of the morning in small groups assessing which governance priorities would require new funding and which could be achieved through time or policy changes. Reports back to the full group highlighted teacher training and tools as likely higher-cost items, while areas such as clarifying roles or increasing community engagement were framed as primarily time or organizational investments.

Kain reviewed a governance calendar and a list of the year’s most important board decisions, flagging these items as priorities: conducting a board self-evaluation, approving the LCAP in June, receiving the annual audit, adopting the budget in June, monitoring multi-year financial projections and completing the superintendent evaluation tied to the LCAP goals. Kain also stressed the Brown Act’s requirement that direction to staff be given openly and collectively, explaining that the board must avoid individual off-agenda directives to the superintendent.

District staff briefed trustees on labor negotiations and compensation: Stockton Unified said it is negotiating with nine bargaining units and aims to conclude settlements for 2023–24 and 2024–25 on a schedule informed by the governor’s budget proposal. The superintendent noted the district’s fiscal conservatism amid declining enrollment and cited a board resolution reserving $56 million to address enrollment declines and rising benefits costs.

Board leadership and new trustees reflected that the session was a practical orientation, with repeated themes of unity, data-driven decision-making and the need for clear roles between the board ("what") and staff ("how"). The board scheduled a March 1 closed-session workshop for an initial superintendent self-evaluation and indicated the full evaluation will be completed with data available by July.

The workshop closed with an invitation for trustee feedback via a brief SurveyMonkey form; President Kena Stevens adjourned the meeting at 11 a.m.