Castaic board to approve budget
The Castaic Union School District Governing Board is expected to adopt the district’s 2017-18 budget and Local Control and Accountability Plan during its meeting tonight.
Following a public hearing at a June 8 meeting, governing board members are expected to adopt the Castaic District’s 2017-18 budget.
For 2017-18, the district is expecting to spend approximately $25,687,501 from all General Fund sources.
An 11-year trend of declining enrollment, a lack of new homes and students leaving the district is impacting the district’s revenue from the state, according to the budget item.
Next year, the district is anticipating a drop in Local Control Funding Formula revenue — the district’s main source of revenue — from $17.9 million to $17.5 million due to declining enrollment. The decline in LCFF revenue is expected to continue in following years with a reduction of $300,000 in 2018-19 and $700,000 in 2019-20.
The district’s enrollment is currently at a low with 2,239 students. In comparison, enrollment hit a high in 2004-05 when the district had 3,617 students.
For the upcoming three years, the districts projects to see a decline in enrollment of 95 students in 2017-18, 136 students in 2018-19 and 107 students in 2019-20.
This decline also impacts the district’s average daily attendance with a decline in it from 2,172 this year to 2,086 next year.
However, despite decreasing enrollment, the
district is still expected to keep its ending fund balance above the state-mandated 3 percent, according to multi-year projections.
LCAP
The Governing Board is also expected to adopt the district’s LCAP, which requires districts to create annual reports that detail the goals and actions to support student outcomes and overall performance.
The LCAP states that the Castaic District works to “empower the learners of today for he challenges and opportunities of tomorrow by providing creative and collaborative learning environments supported by a safe and nurturing atmosphere.”
The details five district goals to provide services and support to students and offer a well-balanced curriculum.
Goals of the 2017-18 LCAP include providing fully-credentialed teachers in each classroom, collaborating across grade levels to create a rigorous, 21st century curriculum, utilizing technologies like Google Classroom, improving attendance, implementing Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) and encouraging parent participation and collaboration.
The district also cites its areas in need of improvement, found in the California School Dashboard accountability system, to target performance gaps among low-income students and English Language learners.
Board policy
Governing Board members are also expected to conduct first readings of changes to four board policies and administrative regulations.
The first details a revised board policy and new administrative regulation on free and reduced price meals to meet current law and California School Boards Association (CBSA) regulations.
The new policy will reflect a law that allows districts to share students’ free and reducedfree meal eligibility information with another local educational agency serving a child living in the same household and with the superintendent for determining funding allocations.
It also will allow districts to make free and reduced-price meal applications available electronically, as long as the application complies with requirements.
The second revised administrative regulation deals with the evaluation and supervision of certificated staff.
This regulation would remove the requirement that a teacher must meet the qualifications of a “highly qualified” teacher for evaluations because the requirements were repealed by the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Board members will also conduct a first reading to delete an old board policy and adopt a new board policy on the evaluation and supervision of classified staff to reflect CSBA policies.
Finally, board members will read a revised board bylaw that describes a meeting conduct motion.
The board bylaw would reflect a new law and require the board to give a member of the public who uses a translator at least twice the allotted time to address the board. It also clarifies that the board cannot prohibit criticism of district employees, programs, or policies during a board meeting.