Redwood City board hears data on attendance, English-learner progress as LCAP public hearing opens

District staff presented the Redwood City School District's Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) at a public hearing on June 17, outlining progress and next steps on attendance, supports for English learners and academic outcomes.

Anna, the district presenter, summarized Goal 1 on student well-being and attendance, saying the district had "seen an increase" for some groups and noted specific changes: foster youth attendance rose about 5.3 points, chronic absenteeism decreased roughly 4.9% districtwide and suspensions moved from 149 in 2023-24 to 67 in 2024-25 and 90 in the current year. She described restorative-practices training for teachers, principal action plans at school sites and continued family outreach as the primary strategies to reduce absences.

Katherine led the presentation on Goal 2 for English learners, reporting that roughly 42% of students showed scale-score growth on ELPAC-related measures from a roughly 39% baseline and that the district has seen progress reducing the number of long-term English learners. "We were at 97 last week, we're at 98% this week," she said when describing progress toward reclassification for many students, and detailed supports including integrated ELD coaching, an OPTEL observation protocol aligned to state guidance and targeted newcomer supports at priority sites. Staff also described a decision not to continue a time-intensive benchmark called "summit" next year in favor of less instructional time-intensive task-type alignment work embedded in existing platforms.

On Goal 3, staff reviewed preliminary CAST assessment snapshots: districtwide gains near 4.1% overall, mixed results for English learners (reported declines in some subjects) and notable subgroup gains in others. The presentation emphasized continuing professional learning communities, math coaching and targeted interventions for priority student groups (English learners, students with disabilities and socioeconomically disadvantaged students).

Trustees asked detailed questions about baseline timing for the next LCAP cycle and were told the California Dashboard data (expected in October) will be used as the baseline for the upcoming LCAP. Trustees also pressed staff on how EL parent engagement is measured; staff said the district uses participation in the District Advisory Committee (DAC) as the board policy metric but acknowledged this does not capture every site-level variation.

Staff highlighted work to analyze dually identified students (those identified for both special education and English-learner support), saying the district will pull historical data back to 2019 to assess trends that may relate to pandemic-era changes.

The hearing concluded with trustees praising the LCAP's clarity and alignment of evidence, and the board set a June 24 meeting to consider adoption of the LCAP and the proposed budget. The full LCAP report and underlying data were posted on the district's BoardDocs site, the presenters said.

The public hearing on the LCAP was opened and closed as part of the meeting's regular agenda; no public commenters spoke during the LCAP public-comment period that evening.