LCAP draft shows La Cañada school district’s goals, potential changes

In life, and in La Cañada Unified School District business, if you want to learn more about the priorities of a complex system, just follow the money. Case in point: the school district’s Local Control Accountability Plan — aka LCAP.

The LCAP is an annually revised document that explains where and how the school district plans to spend state funds over the next three years. According to LCUSD’s proposed budget for 2016-17, the district anticipates incoming state revenues of more than $31.2 million with small increases in the following years.

Created with input from across the school community, the report prioritizes projects and programs that will help the district meet its established goals. Those goals range from recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and reducing class sizes to enhancing student engagement and maintaining school facilities.

On Tuesday, LCUSD Supt. Wendy Sinnette presented members of the school board with a draft of the Local Control Accountability Plan for the coming school year, acknowledging the collaboration that went into the project, as required by state law.

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“We’ve consulted with our parent advisory committees, our local bargaining units, teachers and staff members, administrators, parents and pupils, and we’re happy to say all the requirements have been met,” Sinnette said.

While many of the main goals are the same, some of what’s changed from last school year reflects shifts in the district’s priorities and hints at new programs and support systems on the horizon.

For example, more analysis will be given to the district’s extra duty-extra pay schedule, which dictates how staff members who taken on extra roles like athletics coaching are compensated. LCUSD also plans to reexamine its commitments to professional development resources used in the past.

More accommodations for the district’s English learners have been identified, including additional paraprofessional and teacher support, while many new instructional and support programs envisioned for the upcoming school year have been added.

Next year will see the coming of the Stanford-developed Challenge Success Program at La Cañada High School, which provides research-based strategies for helping boost students academic, social and emotional skills, along with the implementation of Next Generation Science Standards in grades K-12 and creation of a steering committee to monitor progress.

Sinnette asked board members to review the proposed LCAP and see where any cost efficiencies or savings may be increased before the document is brought back for adoption at the next meeting.

She also encouraged members of the public to review the document online or in person. The draft is available online at lcusd.net, under the “About LCUSD” tab, and at the La Cañada Unified School District Business Office, located at 4490 Cornishon Ave., La Cañada.

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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine