WUHSD gets 'game-changing' $2 million grant

May 21—Wheatland Union High School District (WUHSD) was the recipient of a major grant this week after the State Board of Education approved $635 million in planning and implementation grants for 265 school districts, county offices of education and charter schools in California.

Part of the $3 billion California Community Schools Partnership Program that was approved by the Legislature last year, WUHSD Superintendent Nicole Newman said the $2,612,500 the district will be receiving is "game-changing" for the community.

According to EdSource, the program "will be the nation's most ambitious effort to create schools serving multiple health and learning needs of children. Community schools have come to be known as schools with 'wraparound services.' The underlying assumption is that a holistic approach to education, particularly in low-income areas with unmet basic needs, creates the best conditions for children to thrive emotionally and academically."

After the approval of the grants by the State Board of Education on Wednesday, the California Teachers Association (CTA) applauded the decision.

"Today, we are seeing educators' hard work on behalf of their students come to fruition. With this and future investments, as well as a long-term commitment to shared decision making and meaningful change, many high-poverty public schools are on the precipice of change, one that engages students, parents, families and communities, and improves student learning," CTA President E. Toby Boyd, a kindergarten educator, said. "An educational model aimed at disrupting poverty, addressing racial, economic and other inequities, and tailored to serve local student and family needs could not be more timely as we seek to help students recover academically, socially and emotionally from this pandemic."

According to the CTA, community schools are built on four pillars: — Providing services for students that address barriers to learning, including health, mental health, or social service needs. — Providing added academic support and real-world learning opportunities like internships. — Facilitating family and community engagement. — Collaborative leadership that establishes a culture of shared responsibility.

"This is a moment for celebration, as California expands its commitment to community schools. At the same time, we know it will take more than funding to create schools that disrupt poverty and other stubborn barriers to learning. It will require hard work, meaningful community and parent engagement, and the kind of collaboration that is both transformative and challenging for many of our public schools. We must remain committed to the four pillars of community schools as we move forward," CTA Vice President David Goldberg said. "We are hopeful that today's action by the State Board of Education is the beginning of a long and ongoing commitment to community schools. Educators cannot wait to get to the work ahead — of meeting our students' unique needs with their school communities' unique vision and strengths."

WUHSD, in its grant request, cited a growing community and increased needs as reasons for additional funding.

"There has been significant growth in District enrollment over the past several years from 784 in (the) 2018-19 school year to 1066 for the 2021-22 school year. Enrollment is projected to continue to increase dramatically as there are several new housing developments within district boundaries," the district said. "Wheatland Union High School District is a rural district, at the lowest SE end of Yuba County, 15 highway miles from the county seat with no public transportation, which presents an issue of hard-to-access medical and mental health services. To address the physical isolation and lack of services available in our community, WUHSD has become an integral component of connecting our students and families to available resources and services from clothing and school meals to healthcare and mental health services."

The district said it has "taken the Community School model to heart" and reimagined the role of the school in the community as a hub for critical services.

"WUHSD recognizes the importance of removing nonacademic barriers to learning through a collaborative leadership approach involving input from all stakeholders," the district said. "Providing ongoing and meaningful points of access to information, family, and community events, and prioritizing the opportunity for extended learning time have been central points of focus as we have come out of the COVID-19 impacted school years of 2019-20 and 2020-21. There is still significant work to be done in these areas to provide maximum impact and remediation of learning loss alongside the critical component of connecting families with available services and supports."

WUHSD identified the following areas and needs that would be funded by the grant.

Integrated Support Services

Requested funds would be used to increase institutional capacity to provide integrated support services, including: — Professional development for staff on how to analyze NWEA scores and identify areas where students have lower outcome measures that need to be addressed through targeted instructional support to bring students back up to grade level. — Planning time for departments to review NWEA assessment data, develop targeted lessons to address learning gaps, and review assessment data following lesson delivery. — Professional development to support district-wide implementation of trauma-informed instructional approaches, as well as district-wide implementation of restorative justice practices and clear expectations of behavior to be handled by the teacher vs. sending to the office for referral. — Professional development for our 2 instructional coaches to provide individual training for teachers demonstrating need for additional support in implementation of trauma-informed instructional practices. — Funding for one full time Community School Coordinator to centralize services and supports across the district. This person would work closely with administration, teaching staff, pupil support personnel, Family and School Partnership Coordinator (described in Pilar 2), community partner organizations, students, and families to support staff professional development and programmatic implementation needs. This person would also be responsible for monitoring progress toward goals so plans can be revisited and updated as needed. — All staff training in Youth Mental Health First Aid course through National Council for Mental Wellbeing.

Family and Community Engagement

Funding for expanding family and community engagement would be used to: — Implement monthly family workshops using CASEL's SEL Discussion Series for Parents and Caregivers hosted by our counseling team (as District match). — Hire a full time Family and Community School Partnership Coordinator to centralize the efforts of our various support systems including our attendance supports, SART and SARB processes, and increase the school's ability to assist families in meeting basic needs of additional food, clothing, connection to the school, and remove barriers to attendance. This position would also create monthly family engagement nights to connect families with food, toiletries, counseling, health services, and additional supports. This position would facilitate community partnerships and community outreach with local businesses, groups, and agencies to meet the needs of our struggling families and remove nonacademic barriers to learning. — Professional development for staff on how to establish positive relationships and communication practices with families and developing and implementing strengths-based communication practices. Training would also include building additional capacity for cultural competency. — Stipend for a part time translator position to attend all family/community engagement events to support inclusive and respectful communication between schools and families.

Collaborative Leadership & Practices

Funding would be spent on efforts to expand our collaborative leadership and practices to include: — Implementing a comprehensive needs assessment to identify areas of strength and areas in need of additional support which could be areas for community engagement and partnerships. — Funding for a Community School Coordinator position who would focus on designing and implementing professional development needed to support the practices of effective community schools identified. Focus areas would include implementation of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, restorative justice practices, and trauma-informed practices (as indicated in Pilar 1: Integrated Support Services). This person would review student data as well as aggregate data regularly and work to align district, school, and family resources toward the goals of improving outcome measures. — Collaborative time for a community school advisory board consisting of parents, students, staff, and administrators to plan and advise professional development and provide input for decision-making. Stipends would be offered to participating staff as compensation for their out-of-contract time (as District match).

Expanded Learning Time & Opportunities

Funding would be used to implement additional opportunities and services for extended learning time including: — Three additional part time Academic Technicians to run after-school programs from 3:00-6:00 pm five days per week. — Stipends for teachers for planning time to coordinate regularly with after-school support staff to create a more cohesive system of support for student learning including common language, consistent practices, and collaboration. — Four part-time student tutors in after-school tutoring labs (as District match). — A part-time (four hours per day) after-school program coordinator who works with transportation for late busses, facilitates collaborative meeting times with teaching staff and after-school staff, monitors attendance and participation, contacts families if a student is absent to check in and develop a positive, supportive relationship, works with Family and Community School Partnership Coordinator to develop supports for families participating in after-school program. — Stipends for 2 summer-school teachers and 4 paraeducators to implement summer school program for 4 weeks, 4 hours per day.