GUHSD HOLDS HEARING MONDAY NIGHT JUNE 16 ON KEY SCHOOL FUNDING ISSUES IN EAST COUNTY

By Jaden Jimenez

June 16, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) -- Following last year’s plan that was signed by Governor Brown, districts will have the ability to direct funds to specific areas in their schools rather than being told by the state for direction.

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) creates concentration grants in place of the existing funding plans giving districts more say in how money should be spent on education in their specific district. This eliminates revenue limits and will cut out three quarters of state categorical programs which are currently deciding what funds are needed for specific expenditures, without any consideration to the needs of each individual district.

With this new plan each local school district will have the ability to decide how to manage its funds with parent and public input, as mandated by the plan. The hope is to provide more flexibility to determine the local academic priorities and how the state funding will be used to improve student achievement to, in the end, prepare students for college and careers.

As part of the LCFF, school districts, county offices of education and charter schools are required to develop, adopt, and annually update a three-year Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), beginning on July 1, 2014, using a template adopted by the California Board of Education (SBE). The LCAP is required to identify annual goals, specific actions, and measure progress for student subgroups across multiple performance indicators, including student academic achievement, school climate, student access to a broad curriculum, and parent engagement.

To meet the requirement of parental input in order to help specific students achieve, districts have and are holding public hearings and meetings to let parents and the public give their input for the district's plan.

In East County, Grossmont Union High is holding a public hearing on Monday, June 16 at the East County Regional Education Center (ECREC) starting at 6:00 p.m. after a plan has been drafted the County superintendent must review the school district’s LCAP and ensure alignment of projected spending, services, and goals. The state Superintendent of Public Instruction may intervene if a school district or charter school fails to show improvement across multiple subgroups in three out of four consecutive years.

If you’d like to have your say in how the district should spend its money on education, we encourage you to attend the hearing and have your voice heard.