As students prepare their backpacks and lunchboxes for their first days of school this month, administrators across San Benito County are preparing districts to meet new Common Core State Standards for curriculum with money from a new state funding formula.
The coming school year marks the second year of Common Core State Standards testing – called Smarter Balanced Assessments – and the first year that assessment results count. It’s also the first year of implementation of the Local Control and Accountability Plan – a three-year plan of goals and investments that districts must complete in order to get funding under the state’s new Local Control Funding Formula.
As districts respond to the new funding formula and curriculum standards, several local districts are also dealing with changes in leadership. San Benito High School’s Principal Krystal Lomanto left the high school to become the county superintendent, and the school’s new hire, Todd Dearden, started duties at the campus this summer. The Aromas-San Juan Unified School District also brought in new leadership, making Ruben Zepeda the new superintendent. Here’s a breakdown of some of the big issues at three San Benito County districts as school begins.
San Benito High School District
The high school has taken new administrative leadership, has money to spend on construction from a facilities bond and is doing its best to adjust to new statewide curriculum standards.
The new principal, Dearden, started work at the site this summer and will be joined by two new assistant principals, Jeremy Dirks and Colleen Chapman, next school year.
“I’m really excited for that team. I think they bring a lot of expertise. A lot of their beliefs mirror mine, which simply put are students and staff: our precious cargo,” said San Benito High School District Superintendent John Perales, who himself joined the high school staff about four months ago. “That said, we’re going to do everything we can to support students, support staff and do everything we can to be the best high school in the area.”
Voters passed Measure G – a $42.5 million general obligation facilities bond – in June. The district is in the process of selecting an architect. They’ll also need to select a construction company and refresh the Master Plan with the input of stakeholders such as teachers and community members before they start building.
Using general fund money, Perales anticipates the school will break ground on a physical education building with weight and wrestling rooms that has been in the plans for several years after winter break.
“With the bond passing, we’re very excited with being able to construct some new buildings, do some modernization,” said Perales, who noted it will be a challenge to plan around construction, while school is still in session.
As teachers prepare students for Smarter Balanced Assessments this year, one of the details administrators have to iron out is the fact that it’s a computer-based test, but the high school doesn’t offer typing programs and some students do not have home computers.
“I see it as a year of change in many ways. Very positive change, I see,” Perales said. “But I do see it as a year of change and many unknowns as far as state testing and construction.”
Aromas-San Juan Unified School District
The Aromas-San Juan Unified School District also brought in new administrative leadership and made the significant change from being funded mostly by local property taxes to being funded by the state.
Previously, the district received only about $200 per student from the state government, Superintendent Ruben Zepeda explained. Under the new state funding formula, the district qualifies as a “basic aid district,” which means the local property taxes are not enough to meet the state “revenue limit” so the state provides the balance, or the revenue limit amount.
The district has also brought in new leadership, with Zepeda taking control of the district this summer in his first superintendent role after 28 years of experience in the field of education as a teacher and administrator.
With the first year of Smarter Balanced Assessments that count on the way, Zepeda looks forward to getting some feedback on how the district is doing. Last year was a trial run so no student or school scores were reported, leaving school administrators wondering how their pupils compare to those in neighboring districts.
“We had no idea how our students did, so we were kind of in the dark,” Zepeda said. “No one knows where we’re going to emerge from that tunnel until we get some test scores.”
Hollister School District
At the Hollister School District, the focus is less on new administrators and more on adding teachers to the staff. The district also hopes to secure a general obligation facilities bond in the November election.
The district is rolling out some new teaching tools to help students with their critical thinking skills and will be implementing “thinking maps” – or visual brainstorming outlines – schoolwide as part of preparing students for the Smarter Balanced Assessments.
The new state funding formula also has benefited the district, bringing in additional money for schools. The new funding formula grants additional funds based on the demographics of a district. In this case, the district has high numbers of English language learners and economically disadvantaged youth – two groups that earn additional funding for their district under the new formula.
“Many districts, like us, are finding the LCAP allows us to provide help to the students in more ways than we have before. We hired an awful lot of new staff,” McIntire said. “We’re finding that we’re going to be all the way to Day 1 and still finding teachers.”
Earlier this year, school board trustees gave the district authority to post more than $1.3 million worth of new staff positions ahead of approval of the school year’s budget so that the district could begin to seek the most professional applicants before the end of the school year. They will also add five physical education teachers who will be able to work with large groups of students, while students needing remedial help can stay behind to work “with their teacher that knows them best,” said McIntire.
The district will also be focusing on its historically poor academic performer, Calaveras School. In the spring, the district made the decision to post the jobs of all 20 teachers at the site, the first step in the superintendent’s efforts to reorganize the school.
The site has been named a “priority school,” meaning officials will allow the campus to get additional funding and resources to pull the school up to achieving levels.
