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Board hears LCAP updates and probes sharp rise in foster-youth absenteeism
Summary
Trustees reviewed the district’s draft 2026–27 Local Control and Accountability Plan, detailing literacy, counseling and college-career investments, and pressed staff about an 18.3-point jump in chronic absenteeism among foster/homeless students — a subgroup of roughly 32 children that district staff said skews percentages.
The Western Placer Unified School District board on Tuesday held a public hearing on its draft 2026–27 Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), hearing a presentation of planned investments in early literacy, counseling and college-and-career supports and pressing staff for details after a large percentage increase in chronic absenteeism among foster and homeless students.
Reno Penders, the LCAP architect, told the board the plan centers on two goals — graduating students who are college- and career-ready and increasing student and family engagement — and uses LCAP funds to sustain programs such as AVID, English-learner supports, credit recovery, newcomer ELD, school-based wellness centers and expanded early-literacy screeners and interventions.
The proposed changes include shifting some high-school credit-recovery funding into the LCAP, hiring an early-literacy teacher lead, adding elementary literacy intervention staff and expanding parent-engagement efforts, Penders said. The board will consider the plan for action at its June 16 meeting.
Trustees focused questions on a reported 18.3‑point increase in chronic absenteeism for foster/homeless students. "That jump is concerning — do we know what drives it?" one trustee asked. Jen Horton and Superintendent Callahan said the subgroup is small — roughly 32 students — and that the district’s data model keeps any student identified as homeless or foster in that subgroup for the year even if the student’s living status later changes. Staff said localized behavior or a few students with acute needs can produce large percentage swings in such small cohorts.
Callahan said site administrators are closely monitoring attendance and described targeted local interventions — goal-setting, incentives and celebratory events — that have produced measurable improvements at some sites. "We've been tracking every foster/homeless student in the district this year and coordinating with the county office to provide supports," she said.
Penders and staff said the LCAP is meant to align spending to those priorities and to improve data systems that will allow the district to monitor subgroup trends more finely. The board closed the public hearing with no public speakers; the plan will return for adoption consideration at the next meeting.
Next steps: trustees will review a final LCAP draft for possible approval on June 16, after staff incorporate community feedback and any additional data clarifications.
