Observer Report, SDUSD Meeting, 4/29/2025
Beryl Flom | Published on 5/7/2025
LWVSD OBSERVER REPORT FOR SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT MEETING, 4/29/2025, Beryl Flom
Link to Agenda: https://sandiegounified.diligent.community/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=1802
Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/live/e3rb-mNST0o
Present: All Board members and the Superintendent were present.
Item C-1: Student Advisory Board Report
State testing is right before AP exams which makes it difficult for students to study thoroughly for AP exams. Classroom time in AP classes is not being used for review.
Item D-3: Superintendent's Information Report
She met with Legislative leaders and the Governor's office re. the state budget.
There are ten new community schools which are centered on the whole child. Now there are 35 community schools in total. They are funded by a state grant.
The District is re-naming some schools and mascots as ordered by the Feds.
There were school waste diversion contests with 55-65% or 300,000 pounds/month diverted from all schools.
Item E-1: Progress Monitoring Report, Goal 1: Student Wellness
Student wellness is one of four goals set by the Board; it is fundamental to achievement. The last presentation to the Board was in Feb., 2025. SDUSD is unique among districts in focusing on wellness.
They have drafted a Multidimensional Wellness Index as follows:
Body including physical health and attendance
Mind including sense of self, coping with emotions, utilization of wellness supports, growth in mindset such as learning from mistakes and believing "I have the capacity to change".
Relationships including engagement, conflict management and belonging.
Community engagement including connections, respect for diversity and physical environment.
Most of this is already being asked in student surveys.
The proposed plan to implement student wellness includes having a social worker at each school, creating parent centers and community schools, family outreach including translation and bilingual communication and family therapy as well as workshops on wellness. Case management will be needed in some cases. It will be funded with private donations. First they have to collect the data which will not be individualized. They have stipends for 11 social worker interns and will be training them.
The District is going to use its own survey for all grades, but the wording of the questions will be grade-appropriate. The District survey is created to meet the District's goals and is based on research. They will no longer use the state's Healthy Kid survey. The draft survey needs to get student feedback because students think differently from adults and use different language as well as have different priorities.
Mission Bay High School is opening their wellness center on 5/2/2025. Canyon Hills and FRB schools already have a wellness center.
Board Discussion
Could parents act as proxies to their young children? Ans: Teachers will do that.
There needs to be a way to flag students in need.
Will this be funded long term?
Data needs to be individualized to make it much more useful.
How can we compare the District with other districts around the state? Ans: We are working with the State on that.
Make the survey anonymous so students will answer truthfully and fully.
Item E-2: Community Advisory Committee (CAC) for Special Education Semi-Annual Report
Three goals were set in January 2025:
Increase graduation rate from 67.7% to 70% in 2025. Actually it is now projected to be 95%in 2025 because the state's essential diploma allows many special ed students to graduate. There are 801 students with disabilities and 693 plus 72 are on track to graduate. Some students get a certificate of completion.
Decrease the behavioral support requests from 116 to 80 through a proactive plan. The action so far went from 40 to 66 referrals. The proactive plan is being piloted in 5 elementary schools - the most need is in grades UTK-2. Each school has a team including a parent and the District has a team. They are working on gathering data at sites/schools and doing assessments. Using the data, a few action steps will be developed at the sites but if that doesn't work, they will ask the District team to help out. Staff and the District are asked to make a culture change and no longer use Spec.Ed to describe students with disabilities. The Office of Civil Rights was cut from 12 regions to 5 which means there will be less oversight for special ed and Title IX.
Increase consistent parent participation at CAC meetings and events. In order to do this, they are holding hybrid meetings, revamping their website, increasing use of social media, doing engaging and interactive things at their meetings, sharing resources, translating communication, and mentoring new parents.
Board Discussion
That graduation rate of 95% seems unrealistically high. You need to look at the data.
Does the District help students apply for college? Ans. It's being planned.
Is the District catching up with the backlog of assessments? Ans. Ten part-time (college) students are now doing the assessments so we are catching up. At the beginning of this school year, there were 1,600 requests and now there are only 677 left to do. 8% more special ed students are taking general classes. They've figured out that some students don't qualify for special ed if we assess them in the classroom.
Item E-3: Adoption of Alternative Sequence for High School Graduation
There was no presentation, but this is part of the description in the agenda: This "proposed implementation process {allows for} a subset of students to graduate with an alternative graduation sequence, contingent upon their demonstrated readiness through the California College and Career Indicators (CCI). By providing targeted, individualized support to meet the needs of the 11.8 percent, the district is expanding opportunities for students to pursue community college dual enrollment coursework and Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway completion to ensure post-secondary success for each and every graduate." The board vote was unanimous.
Item I: Superintendent's Consent Agenda
No. 1 & 20 were discussed briefly. There were 44 items and all were approved unanimously in one vote.
#1 - Determine that Synthetic Grass Surfacing Projects at Mira Mesa and Morse High Schools are exempt pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines. Artificial turf will be used again. A member of the public objected to the safety/danger/pollution of artificial turf, but Chair Pedersen said natural turf is too expensive to maintain. 45 playing fields turf will be replaced with new artificial turf because their warranties are up.
#10 - Authorization to Purchase District-Adopted, Piloted, and Supplemental Instructional Materials and Textbooks for the 2025-26 School Year, to Ensure Sufficient Standards-Aligned Textbooks. Cost $3.5 million.
#20 - Purchase new math curriculum for elementary school students.