Want a say in how the Fresno Unified School District spends millions? What to know
Hello Education Readers,
It’s Tuesday, Jan. 18.
Parents across Fresno Unified are invited to participate in upcoming regional community discussions on improving education.
The discussions will take input from parents on how they would like Fresno Unified to spend the Local Control and Accountability state funding, also known as the LCAP funding.
So why does this matter? School districts that receive state money are required to take input from parents, students, staff, teachers, administrators, and principals on how to use state funding.
LCAP meetings are designed to take the input of parents. The first meeting was held at Bullard High School on Thursday evening.
Parents were provided with free dinner, and all of the surveys were taken electronically, allowing for social distancing. During that meeting, parents expressed an interest in the district investing in more social-emotional supports and better school lunches.
“I’m glad I came,” grandmother Zina Brown-Jenkins said. “The one thing I say is that you have to be involved. We have questions on why the money is spent for this, that, and the other, but I felt that they covered a lot of important areas.”
Fresno Unified’s Executive Officer of State and Federal Programs, Tammy Townsend, who was the moderator during Thursday’s meeting, presented evidence of how past LCAP comments impacted how the district used state money.
For example, during previous LCAP meetings, parents recommended expanding social-emotional services due to grief, loss, trauma, and isolation during the pandemic.
In response, the district invested in building two wellness hubs, hiring four clinical social workers, five additional psychologists, and two child welfare and attendance specialists, as well as an on-call mental health response team.
The district will hold five more in-person meetings and conduct three virtual meetings, one in English, one in Spanish, and one in Hmong.
The next virtual and in person meetings will be held during the following dates at the following locations:
Jan. 20 Fort Miller Middle School cafeteria (Fresno High region) 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 25 Roosevelt High School cafeteria 5:30 p.m.
Feb.y 3 Sunnyside High School cafeteria 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 8 McLane High School library 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 9 Hoover High School cafeteria 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 15 Edison High School cafeteria 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 10 Virtual in English 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 17 Virtual in Hmong 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 22 Virtual in Spanish 5:30 p.m.
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