Murrieta Valley Unified presents 2025'026 LCAP, emphasizes EL supports, attendance interventions and a planned family center

Murrieta Valley Unified School District staff presented the district'025'026 Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) during a special board meeting and opened a public hearing on the plan; no members of the public commented.

The presentation, led by Mrs. Faith Munch Shakes, described the LCAP as a three-year strategic plan that links the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and one-time Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant (LREBG) funds to measurable goals, actions and expenditures focused on foster youth, English learners and socioeconomically disadvantaged students. "It escribes the goals, actions, and services, and expenditures to support positive student outcomes," the presenter said, calling the document a roadmap for aligning funding and program choices.

Why it matters: The LCAP determines how district resources are targeted to student groups that the state regards as a funding priority. The board will consider final adoption after the district—ounty review and a second hearing; staff said the plan is scheduled for board approval on June 12.

Key elements and actions discussed

- Goal 1 (Student learning and achievement): The plan funds certificated staff to support smaller class sizes, counseling supports across grade levels, coordinators for data and curriculum work, PLT lead stipends, AVID programming and CTE offerings. The presenter noted LREBG funds have been added to support smaller class sizes and highlighted a pilot career exploration class at Dorothy Melhaney.

- Goal 2 (Intervention and English learners): The LCAP includes elementary and secondary intervention teachers, programs for English learners (EL) and long-term ELs, before- and after-school intervention that moved into the LCAP via LREBG, AVID tutors focused on math, and a high school summer credit-recovery program.

- Goal 3 (Professional development): The district funds induction supports for new teachers, curriculum work teams, assessment tools and three full-time elementary instructional coaches who will emphasize the rollout of a new math curriculum.

- Goal 4 (Engagement and school culture): Actions include parent and student advisory councils, mental-health supports, MTSS (multi-tiered system of supports) expansion, attendance and transportation actions, services for foster youth, and funding for a staff position to coordinate a family center once construction is complete.

District data and clarifications

During questions from board members, staff shared several operational and data points from the presentation. Presenter-provided figures discussed at the meeting included roughly 4,000 English learners (described in the presentation as about 4% of enrollment) and approximately 150 foster youth. The presenter said the district—urrently estimates an EL reclassification rate near 40% annually (presenter recalled this as a ballpark figure and directed board members to the plan for exact numbers).

Attendance, chronic absenteeism and MTSS

Board members pressed staff on chronic absenteeism and how suspensions, expulsions and dropouts are counted in attendance denominators. The presenter said attendance work is embedded in MTSS, led in part by an attendance coordinator (Amanda Deberts) who is building tier 2 teams at sites to review cases and bring families in for support. Staff noted the district has seen small improvements in attendance and chronic absenteeism after embedding these practices and said some interventions will take time to show up on the dashboard due to reporting lags. The presenter acknowledged the district has not yet funded a narrowly focused dropout-recovery position but said it is a model the board could consider if staffing priorities change.

Use of one-time learning-recovery funds

Staff said several LREBG-funded activities have been folded into the LCAP, including before- and after-school intervention and AVID tutors; the district framed these as now part of the ongoing plan to justify alignment with targeted student groups.

Next steps

The presenter said the district submitted the draft to the county fast-pass review, posted it for public review on May 28, and conducted the public hearing at the meeting; no comments were received. The board was told it would revisit final adoption of the LCAP at the June 12 regular meeting.

Attributions and sourcing

Quotes and attributions in this article are drawn from the district—oard meeting transcript and attributable to Mrs. Faith Munch Shakes (LCAP presenter) and board members who questioned the plan. Numerical figures noted in the article were stated by presenters or recalled in the meeting and are reported here as presented to the board.

The board opened and closed the public hearing on the LCAP at the meeting; the district expects to return the plan for final approval on June 12.