In alignment with Education Code, before the Governing Board of a school district
considers the adoption of the LCAP, the Superintendent or designee must respond in
writing to comments received from the LCAP Parent Advisory Committee (LCAP PAC)
members and the District English Learner Parent Advisory Committee (DELAC)
members. The following are responses to questions and comments from both of these
committees. Please refer to the following key as necessary:
Q = Question
A = Answer
C = Comment
R = Response
Q:
1- This Item needs more clarification as the word “Intern” to describe psychologist “To
support American Lakes School and Bannon Creek School, two school psychologist
interns”. (page 11)
2-When will year 3 Outcome Measuring will be available for review.
3-What does it mean “No” in column “Contributing”.
4-How are funds in “Adult Education Program” been used/distributed.
5-Why is there a difference in Total funds between “DELAC Parent Supports,$10,000.00” and “Special Education Community Advisory Committee $0.00.”
6-Sorry I do not know what is “Promise Program / Community Day School”
7-$336,683 funds for 2.4FTE Psychologists, are these the same as the one placed at
American Lakes School and Bannon Creek School. (Page 57).
8-Goal #5 has several actions to support Teachers and Instructional Aides ($6,000, I
believe this is low) besides hiring qualified teachers, are we also targeting to hire
qualified IA, increase the amount of IA and also maintaining them in Natomas District?
A:
1- In addition to the already placed psychologists and social workers at American Lakes
School and Bannon Creek School, the district will have an opportunity to add additional
support with two psychologist interns (“An internship is a professional learning
experience that offers meaningful, practical work related to a student’s field of study or
career interest.”) that will support the students and existing staff in an effort to increase
social-emotional supports at those designated school sites.
2- Year 3 outcomes will be available for review in two stages, stage one is typically
presented to the Board of Trustees in January or February and the second stage is in
May as additional metrics are finalized.
3- The instructions of the LCAP state, “Regardless of scope, contributing actions serve one or more
unduplicated student groups. Indicate one or more unduplicated student groups for whom services
are being increased or improved as compared to what all students receive.”
When marked No, this statement may not apply to the indicated action.
4- Adult Education funds support the adult education program costs at Discovery High
School. This includes staff, supplies, and other operating expenses.
5-DELAC is a larger representative group and at times may require transportation costs,
child care supervision costs, and other operating expenses to increase parent
participation/engagement.
6- The Promise Program provides an alternate learning environment for students that
cannot thrive or meet their potential in a traditional learning environment. Alternative
programs and schools of choice are developed by staff, parents and students and are
designed to offer a different structure, learning philosophy, or academic and
social-emotional emphasis in order to accommodate different needs and learning styles.
Through collaboration and innovative methods and ideas, the unique needs of
at-risk/at-promise students can be met. The Promise Program operates in conjunction
with the Sacramento County Office of Education and is located at Discovery High
School.
The Promise Program provides students an opportunity to continue their education and
to experience significant positive personal change in their lives. Although the program’s
focus is on academic success, the development of positive interpersonal skills and
positive social interactions with peers and adults are important components of the
school’s program. Most of the students educated in the community schools have been referred by their local districts as a condition of meeting their re-admittance
requirements following expulsion from school.
7- These positions were added to provide a psychologist at every school site and is only
a portion of the entire cost of all psychologists.
8- The $6000 is in addition to current actions and budget to support professional
development. Human Resources focuses on the NUSD Core Value of “We value
committed, collaborative, caring, and exemplary employees” for current and future
employees. If you know of qualified candidates, please have them reach out to our
Human Resources department.
C: I found it to be thorough and comprehensive.
R: Thank you for your feedback.
The following submitted questions are from stakeholders not in the LCAP PAC or
DELAC. All other stakeholder LCAP comments have been shared with appropriate staff.
Thank you for your feedback.
C: It’s transparent way to show income and expenditure.
R: Thank you for your feedback.
C: NUSD continues to underestimate the need for hiring school counselors at the
elementary school level. School psychologist interns are not trained to provide the same
comprehensive, preventative, and developmental services that a professional school
counselor can. These services are designed to facilitate academic success, personal
and social development, and career readiness. They are preventative in nature, as well
as include tier 2 and tier 3 supports for students who need additional resources. I would
like to see a plan added to hire elementary school counselors to better support our
students, as there is a national youth mental health crisis and suicide rates have
increased dramatically (138% in females ages 10-14 since 2012, and 70% in males
ages 10-14 since 2012).
R: Thank you for your feedback. Please refer to the Board presentation on January 18,
2023 titled, “NUSD’s Continuous Cycle of Budget Development”, specifically slide 16
titled, “Counseling, Psychologist, and Social Worker Supports” for more information
about our services and ratios for our elementary schools.
C: Goal #3 – Engage parents and families. She believes this is not happening at the
schools. After looking at the presentation, there is no mention of Title 1 training and
programs. Why is that not enclosed in this presentation? As we may know, there are
issues with ALS. There are only closed-door meetings where the Principal invites who
he wants to attend. $1 million dollars were received in Title 1 funds and she wants to
know how that money was spent. She spoke about how only surveys are important at
her Grandson’s school (ALS). She stated while there were talks about surveys that had
gone out to all parents and family members, she hasn’t received information about this.
She wants to know when they went out and where was the availability?
R: Thank you for your feedback. The LCAP focuses on actions and services funded by
the Local Control Funding Formula dollars. Including other state and federal funding
sources is not a requirement at this time. Title I is a part of the School Plan for Student
Achievement (SPSA) that must be developed at the site with parent and staff
engagement. More information about a school site’s plan for Title I expenditures can be
found in those plans on their website or by contacting the school office.
