Learn more about School Site Council
At Parents for Public Schools San Francisco (PPS-SF), we believe that engaged and empowered parents are critical to the success of our children, our schools, and our city.
We draw upon a 23-year history and track record of strong and committed partnerships with SFUSD staff and parents. A national network of Parent for Public School chapters engaged in similar work that serve as collaborators thought partners, and models of excellence and possibility. A belief and an approach to parent/family advocacy that centers equity and building strong partnerships with the district to address issues and foster innovations that improve educational outcomes for all students.
As a seasoned educator and advocate, I continue to grapple with why our public schools are good enough for my child but not good enough for all children. Until the schools become "our children in our schools we will never have equity.
PPS-SF wants to underscore to all families and the district that we focus our efforts on helping families: a) navigate San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) enrollment and selection process, b) understand the educational policy and decision-making, and c) become empowered and engaged members of their school communities.
PPS-SF is focused on empowering all parents to be involved, not just passive listeners but to actively shape the conversation going forward.
Today, we will provide you with insights into our Family Engagement Capacity Building Supports for the K-12 District through local school site councils (SSC) and the single plan for student achievement (SPSA).
First, the Single Plan for Student Achievement is critical because it ensures the improvement of the district as a system, builds the effective capacity of the planning system for educational services so that it is coherent with the use of state and federal funding resources, at large, across school sites and so that its blueprint serves as the cornerstone and bolsters alignment with Local Control Accountability Plan known the LCAP and during a time of high school site staff attrition.
School sites have a School Site Council which has two goals one is to conduct a need assessment of programs and resources and the other is to conduct an evaluation of any program effectiveness indicators. School Site Councils are important because it governs the school’s needs assessment, plan, and budget of services and resources to support each plan. Each school site council-approved budget shall be implemented in accordance with educational legislation and policies. They are school-level decision-making structures. They are the primary vehicle through which parents and the community can influence how site-level budgets are expended.
This includes the use of State, Federal, and Local funding. State law requires School Plans for Student Achievement must not only be approved by the School Site Council but developed by the Council. Additionally, any changes to expenditure must also be approved by the School Site Council. State law requires that the composition of the School Site Council includes the same number of parents as staff. This means that parents have major decision-making power regarding activities and the allocation of funding.
Thus, School Site Councils serve as a primary entity ensuring that equity is at the forefront of budgetary and programmatic decision-making. Please reach out to us if you would like us to support your school site council or provide a workshop that gives information about the school site and a single plan for student achievement. Our team has conducted a scan of all school site councils and can provide you with our understanding of the scan for your school by booking time with Dorothy Clark here. You can find the SPSA for school here.
- From Executive Director, Vanessa D. Marrero