Goal 1

Goal 1: All Students will be Connected to School and Engaged In Learning

Why PRJUSD Developed This Goal

As we continue to work on reengaging students and families post-covid, we continue to notice a decline in the reported student connectivity to school beginning in the 4th grade which extends through the middle school and high school years and begins to improve in the eleventh grade. We notice this trend using our PASS Universal screener data as well as our California Healthy Kids Survey data. Corresponding to the connectivity statement is the chronic absenteeism data listed below which is improving in the past three years but has not yet reached the pre-COVID levels. We know that chronic absenteeism is directly impacted by a students feeling or connectedness to school. Developing a goal with additional counseling, mental health, mentoring, basic needs, behavior support and mechanisms to improve and enhance opportunities for our community and families to connect with out school sites will improve student connectedness to school.

Action 1 Social Emotional Support

Action 2: Staff training and coaching to meet the needs of English Learners, low income and foster youth

Action 3: Parent connectedness to school

Nine and a half family advocates, District Communication Services Director, Spanish interpreter services, Mixteco interpreter services 8 bilingual attendance clerks to support with increased efforts to decrease chronic absenteeism rates with English Learners, low-income and foster youth.

To address the red indicator on the LEA dashboard related to chronic absenteeism, each site has a bilingual family advocate to ensure communication is made with families and efforts are made to remove barriers for our most at risk populations, specifically foster youth. Family advocates with work closely to contact and check-in with students experiencing homelessness and foster youth individually along with their counselor to understand each child's needs and resources as it relates to school attendance.

Total Funds: $1,213,117.00

Action 4: Basic needs for students experiencing homelessness, English Learners, low-income and foster youth

Bus passes, hygiene products, school supplies, backpacks, to ensure basic needs for school are met. Hotspots for wifi connectivity at home for homework and supplemental school programs. Full-time FTE to support with the oversight of these needs in collaboration with family advocates and site teams.

Foster youth are in the red indicator on the CA School Dashboard for chronic absenteeism and the following schools also have subgroups in the red/orange indicator on the dashboard for chronic absenteeism.
Glen Speck- Low SES, white
Flamson- Homeless
Lewis - Low SES, SWD, and White

Through the Parent Advisory Committee, DELAC and Community Schools Steering Committee work, we have identified transportation and basic needs as a barrier to school attendance. Therefore, we acknowledge that this is an area for improved service to our English Learner, low-income and foster families.

Access to basic needs, including transportation support, prove to be a consistent issue with attendance. Transportation is a significant challenge for some students with no general education bussing available. Bus passes provide access to options. Some students do not have wifi at home which prevents them from accessing Google Classroom and other required platforms for school.

Total Funds: $185,000.00

Action 5: Connectivity to school including Enrichment and afterschool sports

Action 6: Student mentorship and support for English Learners, low-income and foster youth

Action 7: Community School Support

Establish community school supports at Glen Speck by hiring a Community School Coordinator and administering efforts for 90% parent engagement as required with community school language. Community School Coordinator will facilitate efforts with parents to remove barriers impacting student success including attendance.

Glen Speck is 81.6% low SES students and our low SES students at Glen Speck are in the red indicator on the CA School Dashboard for chronic absenteeism.

District Chronic Absenteeism Rate (K-8)
Baseline 2022-23 Data
All students: 26.2%
English Learners: 25.5%

Low Socioeconomic: 30.4%
Foster youth: 51.6%

Glen Speck Chronic Absenteeism Rate:
35.7% of students were chronically absent in the 2022-2023 school year. (10% or more of the school year)
As of April 2024, 21.5% of students were chronically absent.

Total Funds: $112,000.00

Action 8: School facilities with extended day and enrichment opportunities

6 custodians

An additional 6 FTE in custodial support based extended learning opportunities funded through supplemental and concentration grant funds, which are supplemental to the school day, such as after school instruction, summer school programs, and field trips for students so that they have additional opportunities beyond the school day to progress towards grade-level standards, access enrichment opportunities and complete course credits towards graduation. With these additional learning opportunities comes an additional need for custodial work in order to maintain facilities and allow access to classrooms, restrooms, and site rooms during the extended school day. To meet this additional need, 6 FTE custodians will be hired to support extended school day programs. The additional custodians will ensure facilities are clean and safe and allow access to restrooms and all rooms.

In the report entitled, Expert Report of Glen I Earthman, G. Earthman, from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, states, “Based on my own studies, my review of pertinent research studies, and my background and experience in the field, my conclusion is that school facility conditions do affect student academic achievement.” He further states “…Correlation studies show a strong positive relationship between overall building conditions and student achievement” (p. 4). He further states, “All of the studies cited in this report demonstrate a positive relationship between student performance and various factors or components of the built environment (p.5). Cash and Twilford (2009) further support these claims in improving student achievement and school facilities in a time of limited funding. Cash and Twilford summarized their study by reporting that the cumulative effect of a schools facility’s condition has been related directly to student outcomes.

Total Funds: $400,000.00

Action 9: Behavior Support And Safe, inclusive learning environment

Action 10: Positive School Culture and Climate

Student Engagement and Connection Specialists and Assistant Principals (6 certificated and one classified) to support PBIS, attendance, and behavior.

Student Services Director, Safety Supervisor and Attendance Officer, and PPS to support attendance, school culture initiatives and multi-tiered behavioral efforts for English learners, low-income and foster youth.

Total Funds: $1,678,229.00

Action 11: Transportation Support

Action 12: Drug Alcohol and Trauma Informed Practice

Action 13: Cultural Sensitivity, Inclusion and Acceptance

To address the red indicator on the CA School dashboard for the LEA related to suspension of African American students, staff and student training will be conducted to address a culture of acceptance, diversity and inclusion on school sites. Improved culture, awareness, and acceptance of all students.

The African American subgroup was in the red indicator on the CA School Dashboard page for suspensions and the English Learner, Hispanic, and 2+ race subgroups were in the red/orange indicator on the CA school dashboard for suspensions at PRHS.

This training will equip staff with the resources and knowledge to address offensive language when heard in and outside of the classroom, thereby, building a school culture which is accepting of all students and intolerant of derogatory comments and behaviors.

Total Funds: $50,000.00

Action 14: Class size reduction