The actions at the November State Board of Education meeting focused largely on two major items – the revised Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and the 2023 California School Dashboard.
The board also heard thoughtful policy proposals from the 2023 Student Advisory Board on Education and welcomed a new Chief Deputy of Public Instruction.
Below is a summary of the significant developments from the meeting, followed by information on the other agenda items and waiver requests heard by the Board.
Key Items
- New Faces.The Board appointed Nancy Kim-Portillo to Chief Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction
- New LCAP Template. The Board adopted the revised Local Control and Accountability Plan Template.
- Renovated Dashboard.The board approved revisions to the Performance Standards within the California School Dashboard.
Chief Deputy of Public Instruction
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Thurmond nominated, and the State Board of Education approved, Nancy Portillo as a Chief Deputy of Public Instruction, effective November 1, 2023. Chief Deputy Portillo will serve in this role as co-Chief-Deputy Superintendent along with Mary Nicely whose appointment to Chief Deputy Superintendent was approved by the Board in September 2021.
Prior to her role as Chief Deputy, Ms. Portillo served as Deputy Superintendent of the Student Achievement Branch of CDE. More about Chief Deputy Portillo can be found here: Revised Item 02
Local Control and Accountability Plan Template - Item 07
Since the adoption of the first Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) in 2014, policy makers in the state have continued to modify the template. This year is no exception. Senate Bill 114, a budget trailer bill approved by the Governor, requires additional revisions to the LCAP and Annual Update template and instructions. These proposed revisions to the template and instructions will be in effect beginning with the 2024-25 LCAP year.
At the September SBE hearing, CDE brought a draft of the revised template and instructions to the Board for feedback. Based on the feedback received, CDE revised the current draft and instructions. At the November SBE meeting, CDE presented the template and instructions to the Board for adoption.
Although there was less public comment at the most recent meeting than in September, members of the education community did take the opportunity to reinforce their appreciation for the more streamlined version of the LCAP shared by CDE staff and urged the Board and CDE to go even further in their efforts to make the LCAP leaner, less complex and more reader and user friendly for students and families in the future. Several members of the board echoed those comments. It will be interesting to see how the template and instructions take shape over the next few years.
More detail on the revised template and the changes required by Senate Bill 114 can be found here: Item 07. In addition, within the item, there are several attachments, including a summary of the revisions to the LCAP, which begins on page 5 of the item, and the actual revised template and instructions, which begins on page 59 of the item. The complete list of attachments is listed below:
- Attachment 1: Summary of Required Revisions to the Local Control and Accountability Plan and Annual Update Template (8 pages)
- Attachment 2: Current Local Control and Accountability Plan and Annual Update Template and Instructions (45 pages)
- Attachment 3: Proposed Revisions to the Local Control and Accountability Plan and Annual Update Template and Instructions (57 pages)
- Attachment 4: Proposed Revisions to the Local Control and Accountability Plan and Annual Update Template and Instructions – No Markup (57 pages)
- Attachment 5: Proposed 2023-24 Local Control and Accountability Plan Annual Update Template and Instructions (6 pages)
The California School Dashboard – Local Indicators Item 08
In 2019, Education Code (EC) 52064.5 was revised to require the reporting of local indicators to an LEA’s governing board or body be in conjunction with the adoption of the LCAP. The language was further refined by the Board in January 2020 to require the results to be reported as part of a non-consent item at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the local governing board or body in conjunction with the adoption of the LCAP. As this language conflicts with other sections of code related to adoption of the LCAP, the Board adopted the following revised standard at the November 2023 meeting: “Report the results as part of a non-consent item at the same public meeting of the local governing board/body at which the LCAP is adopted.”
In addition, at the September 2023 SBE meeting, the Board approved the objective criteria for the 2021-22 Teacher Assignment Outcomes within Priority 1. Based on that action, CDE recommended, and, at the November meeting the Board approved, revising the local indicator self-reflection tool for Priority 1 by:
- Removing the requirement for local educational agencies (LEAs) to self-report the number/percentage of misassignments of teachers of Els, total teacher misassignments, and vacant teacher positions; and
- Clarifying that LEAs are required to report the LEA’s Teacher Assignment Monitoring and Outcome data, the number/percentage of students without access to their own copies of standards-aligned instructional materials for use at school and home, and the number of identified instances where facilities do not meet the “good repair” standard to their local governing board/body in conjunction with the adoption of the LCAP.
CDE will report each LEA’s Teacher Assignment Monitoring Outcome data on the Dashboard beginning with the 2023 Dashboard. LEAs will continue to self-report the other data required under Priority 1.
Also beginning with the 2023 Dashboard, LEAs that fail to report one or more of these data to the Dashboard will receive a status of “Standard Not Met” or “Standard Not Met for Two or More Years,” as applicable, for the Priority 1 Local Indicator.
Other Items & Waivers
There were a number of other items heard at the November 2023 meeting. Information on those items can be found in other items. In addition, there were several waivers discussed at the hearing.
Please let us know if you would like any additional information.
Best,
Lee Angela & Caitlin
Capitol Advisors Group