Wilsona and Lancaster School Districts among the $750.5 million in grants recipients

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom announced the California State Board of Education unanimously approved $750.5 million in grants for community schools – the largest allocation of funds yet under California’s nation-leading initiative to transform thousands of schools into a community school. Community schools provide students, and their families, the resources and support they need to thrive – including counseling, nutrition programs, tutoring, social services, and health care and mental health care services.

What Governor Newsom Said: “With today’s approval of historic levels of funding for community schools, California yet again affirms our commitment to creating schools where all students can thrive. From ending hunger in the classroom to providing mental health services to our students, we’re equipping schools to meet the diverse needs of their students inside and outside the classroom. As education continues to be under assault in other parts of the nation, we are proud to be a leader in providing our students with the resources they need to succeed.”

What State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond Said: “Children learn best when they are healthy, happy, and deeply engaged in learning. And schools operate at their best when families are connected and empowered to work toward common goals. I am grateful to Governor Newsom, the Legislature, State Superintendent Thurmond, and my fellow Board members for continuing to prioritize family partnerships, equity, and a ‘whole child’ agenda in public education.”

Why This Matters: California’s $4.1 billion community schools investment — the latest of which was awarded today — is the nation’s largest investment in dismantling barriers to learning that lead to inequitable student outcomes. These funds allow parents and students throughout California to have better access to schools that provide high-quality instruction and culturally competent wraparound services, including mental health support, tutoring, nutrition programs, free school meals, health care, counseling, and other social programs. Research shows that community schools can result in better school attendance, improved grades and test scores, higher enrollment in college prep classes, and higher graduation rates. The list of awardees can be found here (item 9).

How California is Transforming Education: 

• Universal Pre-Kindergarten: With full-scale implementation anticipated by 2025, California’s children will have access to crucial high-quality instruction by age 4 – effectively adding a new grade to the traditional K-12 system – regardless of a family’s income.

• Universal Extended-Day Learning: All elementary school students will have access to before- and after-school programs, as well as summer learning opportunities, by 2025.

• Universal Free Meals: No student will need to learn on an empty stomach, with all students having the choice of two free, nutritious meals per day – regardless of income or family status.

• Youth Behavioral Health: Youth ages 0-25 will have access to a revamped youth behavioral health system, including an online one-stop hub and billions invested to integrate mental health services with schools.

• College Savings Accounts: Every low-income public school student will soon have an account opened in their name with a seed deposit of $500 to $1,500 – cultivating a college-going mindset, building generational wealth, promoting college affordability, and developing financial literacy.

• Tutoring + Literacy + Math: Schools will help students accelerate academic progress and mitigate learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic with over $20 billion invested in tutoring, increased instructional time, and other student supports.

• More Teachers, More Counselors, and More Paraeducators: Lower staff-to-student ratios is more support for students. Ratios will be lowered across settings and $1.1 billion in annual funding for high-poverty schools to hire up to 5 more staff each.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced that the California State Board of Education (SBE) today approved $750 million in community schools implementation grants as proposed by the California Department of Education (CDE). Today’s approval marks the largest single investment in community schools anywhere in the nation. It builds on successful efforts to accelerate student learning through an integrated approach focused on academics, health and social services, and family and community engagement.

The $4.1 billion California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) is the nation’s largest investment in the community schools model and is designed to transform educational outcomes for students through a whole child and whole family approach that brings an array of services to the school site in order to strengthen students’ assets and improve conditions for teaching and learning. Community schools partner with education, county, and other nonprofit entities to provide integrated health, mental health, and social services alongside high-quality, supportive instruction with a strong focus on community, family, and student engagement.

“This is an important moment for California’s public schools,” said Thurmond. “I have been a longtime advocate for community schools because they break down the barriers that limit student and family access to needed services and resources to ensure that the school site itself becomes a community hub that elevates families’ strengths and deepens relationships between the campus and the community.”

Thurmond has championed community schools for almost 20 years, first as a school board member in West Contra Costa, where he authored the resolution that made the entire district a full-service community schools district, and then as a California Assembly Member, where he supported community schools legislation. Now, as State Superintendent, Thurmond is leading the largest community schools implementation in the nation. Under his leadership, California now has 1,027 community schools sites across the state.

“Our community schools’ goals are straightforward,” Thurmond continued. “We intend to change academic outcomes for all of California’s students, but our investment will start in communities that have shouldered the burden of economic disinvestment for decades.” Under Thurmond’s direction, the CCSPP has funded schools with a poverty threshold at 68 percent or higher and rural schools with a threshold at 58 percent or higher.

Superintendent Thurmond sponsored community schools legislation in 2019 and, since the passage of the Community Schools Partnership Act, the CDE is leading the nation in implementing work to support the whole child and transform public education under his leadership. Specifically:

• To date, the CDE has awarded more than $1.4 billion in grant awards for planning and implementation grants and more than $100 million in technical assistance contracts through the CCSPP.

• The CDE and the SBE designed the California Community Schools Framework, which has become a national model for transformational community schools implementation guidance.

• The CDE has awarded a total of 419 planning grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) across the state and 204 implementation grants to LEAs supporting 1,028 school sites, most of which have an unduplicated student count of over 70 percent, making the CCSPP the most equity- and racial-justice-driven transformation program in the history of California’s public education.

The implementation grants approved today by the SBE will provide 128 school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools with five-year grants of up to $500,000 per year to work with families, educators, and partners to implement community schools.

With today’s vote, the CDE is awarding the third round of community schools grants that account for more than $750 million in total. The list of planning grants approved today can be found under Item 9 on the May 2023 SBE Agenda. SBE President Linda Darling-Hammond stated, “Community schools provide supportive, nurturing, and inclusive learning environments to help all students thrive in academics and in life. In addition, they provide much-needed community resource hubs. I am grateful to the Governor, the Legislature, and the California Department of Education for their dedication to this important program.”

Community schools are a critical part of Thurmond’s Transforming California Schools Initiative, and he is currently visiting schools that are engaged in learning acceleration and attending to student mental health and the well-being of families. As part of those efforts, Thurmond will continue to visit schools that have received CCSPP funding to highlight the transformational work happening on community school campuses.