LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The year 2014 is a big one for education, as schools prepare to implement new standards, tests and funding mechanisms.
That's the message in the Lake County Office of Education's new annual report.
The full report can be seen on the County Office of Education's Web site at http://issuu.com/smascari/docs/annual_report_12-13_3 .
Lake County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook and his staff have been presenting the 28-page annual report to local school boards and the Board of Supervisors following the document's Jan. 14 release.
The supervisors received the report on Jan. 14, with the Upper Lake High School District Board hearing the update on Jan. 15.
Lake County Office of Education Educational Specialist Stephanie Wayment told Lake County News that they also made the presentation to the Kelseyville board Jan. 21, with presentations to the Konocti and Lakeport boards following on Feb. 5 and 12, respectively. No date has yet been set for the Middletown board.
“As we move forward we will see that this year is filled with hope, challenges and especially opportunity. We will be experiencing some of the most significant changes in education funding and practice in the past three decades,” said Holbrook.
Those changes include the implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula and the Local Control Accountability Plan, and additional funding to schools as a result of the passage of Proposition 30, he said.
This year there also will be the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, as well as the new California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, which is meant to provide feedback to students, parents and staff “to ensure our students are learning and growing to meet the ever-increasing expectations and changing world,” according to Holbrook.
“These changes are significant, and they'll be significant to every school in California,” Holbrook told the Board of Supervisors.
He said he and his staff used the annual report this year to explain the significant changes ahead.
Holbrook told the supervisors that over the last five years California schools have experienced a 25-percent cut in per-student funding. “We think that we've hit the bottom of that and are starting to move up again,” said Holbrook, noting that while it's not a perfect situation, things are definitely looking better.
In the report's introduction, Holbrook writes that the document offers an opportunity to look back at previous years' challenges, opportunities and successes.
It includes snapshots of student achievements, demographics, enrollment, finance, events and educational programs.
There also are areas of focus including the Literacy Task Force, parent engagement and “The Hub,” a community school pilot program in Upper Lake which seeks to make schools the hub “around which the community gathers its resources to help attain better outcomes for students, their families and surrounding neighborhoods,” the report explained.
The report concludes with vignettes of examples of how Lake County Office of Education programs and services impact students, educators and families in very practical and important ways.
Shelly Mascari, Lake County Office of Education director of communications, pointed out that the report shows Lake County's student graduation rate is above the state average.
Declining enrollment remains a challenge for county schools, Mascari said, with the report's figures showing a drop of nearly 1,000 students since the 2001-02 school year. That drop, according to the report, affects funding at every district.
Mascari also referred to figures in the report that show that 90 percent of the Lake County Office of Education's $9.78 million in annual revenue goes directly into education support services, with administrative expenses comprising 5 percent of the agency's annual budget.
Michelle Buell, the Lake County Office of Education's business services director, explained the new Local Control Funding Formula, which state legislation enacted beginning in the 2013-14 school year.
Buell said it's intended to restore funding to education after several years of cuts. She said the formula is expected to increase funding by 10.9 percent or $751 per student, with a $4.5 billion increase statewide projected for next year, about double this year's amount.
She said the Local Control Funding Formula is meant to remove the red tape attached to funding that has been a challenge for educators.
Historically there have been 32 pots of “categorical” funding, which Buell said can only be spent in certain ways, with many regulations governing the funds.
“These funding sources don't always meet the needs of the district” or what the student population requires, Buell said.
The state has lifted many of the requirements attached to the funding and placed it in one big pot of money, although she said some new rules have been added.
That's created an opportunity to allow educators to look at how they want to spend the money to make students more successful academically, Buell said.
“This really does push the decisions to the local level, and that's something that I think we've all wanted for quite some time,” Holbrook told the Board of Supervisors.
The challenge, he said, is to make good decisions to maintain that local control. In implementing the new fiscal rules, Holbrook said, “We need to show results,” which will show up in the Local Control Accountability Plan.
The Local Control Accountability Plan focuses on state priority areas, said Wayment, with local boards deciding how to do that within the context of their own districts.
She said the Lake County Office of Education is supporting districts in creating their Local Control Accountability Plans, which emphasize the local stories of the educational agencies and how they address the eight state priority areas.
Wayment said the eight state priorities are basic services, implementation of state standards, parent involvement, student achievement, student engagement, school climate, course access and other student outcomes.
She said for county offices of education, there are two additional priorities: services to expelled students and services to foster youth.
Holbrook said the requirement for the Local Control Accountability Plans will necessitate districts having a different timeline for budget development.
He said his office must certify the districts' plans, which will provide the basis for their budgets. “That will be a little bit different timeline for you,” he told the Upper Lake High School Board.
Holbrook suggested that the districts and the Lake County Office of Education work closely to develop the Local Control Accountability Plans. “We're really able and willing, both, to help you develop that plan so it does achieve what you want it to do.”
Wayment said the criteria for the plans is still under development by the state. “It's also a process in the works,” she noted, adding that the rubric is not scheduled to come out until the fall at the latest.
In addition to the Local Control Funding Formula changes, this year schools are preparing for the rollout of the Common Core State Standards, Wayment said.
The standards, approved by 44 states including California, replace standards implemented in 1997, she said.
The great opportunity that the Common Core State Standards offer to schools is that they integrate technology and put the focus back on teaching in the classrooms, said Wayment. At the same time, they have a new accountability and monitoring system.
She told the Board of Supervisors that the new testing will require students to use their critical thinking skills, with the hope being that educators can get back to a quality level of teaching that is teacher-created and teacher-supported, as well as curriculum-supported.
This is the third year the Lake County Office of Education's annual report has been designed for digital distribution and viewing, according to Mascari.
“A digital report just makes sense,” she said. “It is more environmentally and fiscally responsible. It allows us to focus more on content and the important information we want to share with our communities, and focus less on minimizing printing costs.”
Limited printed copies of the report are available. For more information, contact Shelly Mascari at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-262-4161.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.