Lompoc Record, The (California)
April 28, 2011
HEADLINE: LUSD receives new state requirements

By Glen Wallace

Lompoc Unified School District (LUSD) is one of 62 districts in California that have missed No Child Left Behind testing standards for at least the last three years.

Now in Program Improvement (PI) Year Three status, those 62 districts have been awaiting word from the California Department of Education about what corrective actions might be imposed.

"They can restructure the whole school district. They can replace staff. They can make a lot of different demands - there's a whole list they can choose from, and of course everyone hopes they choose the less drastic options," said LUSD Director of Student Achievement and Curriculum Laura-Lee Parks.

On April 8, LUSD received its answer, a short list of "Corrective Action" requirements that included regularly updating the textbook curriculum for all grades, and an update of the district's learning plan.

The state listed seven requirements for LUSD, and Parks said all were either already fulfilled, or already inprocess.

"Had our district not shown any (test score) improvement, or ignored (state) recommendations, they might have used more draconian options," Parks said Tuesday night, as she delivered a report on the district's PI status to the Board of Education.

"That went easier than I thought it would be," said LUSD board member Kay Eatmon. "Still a long way to go though."

There was no discussion at Tuesday's meeting of what future years of PI status might mean for LUSD.

No Child Left Behind standards call for 100 percent student proficiency in math and language arts for all schools nationwide by 2014. Parks told the board that the district had been moving test scores upward, but due to the "really high jumps" in student test achievement expected by the act, that breaking out of PI status had looked difficult last year, leading the district office to begin working on the state's likely PI year-three requests.

Parks said LUSD had just recently updated its math curriculum. She said budget restrictions had delayed the last scheduled English language textbook update, but that an eventual full replacement has been planned.

In the same meeting, the Board of Education had approved spending

$170,000 in restricted lottery funds to help purchase new 11th and 12th grade English textbooks.

"The next step is to get teachers the professional development that goes along with new curriculum," said Parks.

Parks said the other major requirement by the state - the updating of the district's Local Education Agency (LEA) plan - had already been in the planning stages for months. A district's LEA plan serves as a guiding document on how to improve local education through curriculum, student evaluation, teacher development and family involvement.

According to Parks, a draft version of the updated LEA will be presented to the public at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the district office,

1301 North A St. She added that a proposed final draft would be presented for Board of Education approval at their next regular meeting, May 10.