Local Control Accountability Plan, is just that an Accountability Plan
LCAP? it’s an important accountability Plan
As Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco continually promotes the fundamental value of public education for all children, we take a seat at the table of many San Francisco Unified School District committees. We are there to represent the voices of families who may have been marginalized and not included at the table. Then we take what is shared at these meetings back to the families we serve, as well as to you, our valued community of supporters.
One of these committees we attend is the LCAP Advisory Committee, which reports on the current progress of the SFUSD Local Control Accountability Plan and makes recommendations to ensure that those students most in need of services are served. Families, students, labor partners, and community members can provide feedback and help shape the SFUSD budget.
At each monthly meeting of the LCAP Advisory Committee, held on the second Wednesday at 555 Franklin St., SF, participants are reminded of the LCAP Community Agreements, which include:
(1) keeping students and equity at the center of all goals
(2) being a part of the solution towards anti-racism, equity and social justice
(3) being engaged by speaking up, listening up, asking questions and interrupting systematic oppression.
Recently families were asked to choose one action visible at their child’s school site and talk about how it was being implemented.
Parents voiced ongoing concerns for:
Mental health,
Staff training,
Adequate funding,
Learning setbacks,
Communication
Literacy support
Delayed reclassification of English language learners,
Lack of timely evaluation for students with learning disabilities
The results of the CCEIS (Continued Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervention Services report.
Student School Assignment System, which should allow families to use a work address to be close to their children in commuting, reacting to an emergency, and being more involved in the child’s school.
Confusion of changing budgets, with difficulties in transparency and clarity about finances.
All participants clearly value meaningful engagement and direct lines of communication between the school board and advisory groups, and these meetings support this goal.
To add, in recent months, the LCAP meetings in SFUSD have not followed all the community agreements.
As a community-based organization, Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco represents and provides support for families to have equal access to district information and resources. In registering for a recent parent advisory meeting, our team of experts was required to list their organization affiliation and a cap on our attendance. We find this very strange since all the other meetings that we have attended never had such a rule. The meeting discussion focus was Latino students who make up 31% of students served. Since we focus our mission on serving all families, we advocated about the need for community organizations who serve as important support to families and denounced any attempts to silence anyone’s voice, especially individuals of color. We believe we have a lot to learn from one another and pave a path so that the voices of those who have been pushed to the side shine through.
Parent Advisory Committees to the LCAP ensures engagement with parents and guardians of the district’s highest need students. By engaging with parents and local community members, there is more informed decision-making, increased empowerment of educational partners, improved family-school partnerships, and access to more comprehensive input to inform the identification of needs, planning, and program implementation. To learn more about the San Francisco Unified School District’s LCAP Advisory committee, visit their website here.