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Chico Unified board approves Community Schools implementation plan after staff outline social‑work, CTE and family‑engagement investments
Summary
Trustees approved a plan to implement the California Community Schools Partnership Program grant at eight district schools; staff described hiring school social workers, intervention specialists, expanded after-school offerings and delays in program rollout tied to late grant funding.
The Chico Unified School District board voted to approve the district’s implementation plan for the California Community Schools Partnership Program on Monday after a presentation from Jay Shioali, the district’s community school coordinator.
Shioali said the district received planning and implementation grants covering eight schools and described the program’s focus areas: integrated student supports (including school social workers and intervention specialists), expanded and enriched learning time, family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership practices. He told trustees the district received some grant funds late (in fall 2024) and began implementation in January 2025, which delayed the timeline for metric tracking.
Staff identified core goals for the program: increase attendance, strengthen academics and social-emotional learning supports, expand educational opportunities, and reduce chronic absenteeism and disciplinary incidents. Shioali outlined specific activities funded by the grant, including hiring certificated school social workers and teachers on special assignment to support interventions, expanding after‑school enrichment and partnering with community organizations for garden-based learning and food-program connections.
Shioali acknowledged staffing challenges, particularly hiring credentialed school social workers. He said McManis Elementary recently hired a full‑time school social worker and Little Chico Creek had started individual contacts with 51 students and about 141 sessions during the reporting period. For elementary sites such as Chapman and Citrus, Shioali described hundreds of social-work contacts recorded in district data.
After the presentation a trustee made a motion to approve the plan; another trustee seconded the motion and the board approved it by voice vote. The presentation was informational and then advanced to action on the board agenda for approval.
District staff said the grant covers multiple years and that additional dashboard data and year‑by‑year comparisons will be available as schools complete their first full grant year. Staff also said some alternative-education schools will prioritize career-technical education and job-readiness efforts under the grant.
What happens next: Staff will post the draft LCAP and other plan documents for public comment, continue onboarding personnel, and begin using tracked metrics to report outcomes in subsequent board updates.
At the meeting the board did not discuss specific dollar allocations for each site beyond the grant’s five‑year scope; staff noted the timing of funds and that some programming began only after the funds arrived in January 2025.
