REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
November 19, 2024
FROM
TED ALEJANDRE, County Superintendent, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
SUBJECT
Title
Williams Settlement Fiscal Year 2023/2024 Annual Report
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Receive the Williams Settlement Fiscal Year 2023/2024 Annual Report from Ted Alejandre, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, pursuant to the state of the schools in the county that are identified for monitoring based on the criteria set forth in Section 1240(c) of the Education Code.
(Presenter: Ted Alejandre, County Superintendent, 386-2406)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The approval of this action is non-financial in nature, and therefore, does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Williams Lawsuit Settlement (Williams Settlement legislation), reached and enacted into law in August 2004, has set the standard for providing equitable educational opportunities in San Bernardino County and throughout California. The Williams Settlement legislation has provided an opportunity for county and district superintendents to work collaboratively to support and assist underperforming schools to improve student achievement.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed Williams v. California in 2000 on behalf of the plaintiffs, nearly 100 students from San Francisco County, as a class action lawsuit against the State of California and its educational agencies. The basis of the lawsuit was that public-school agencies failed to provide public school students with equal access to instructional materials, safe and clean school facilities, and qualified teachers. The issue of equity for disadvantaged and minority students, particularly in large and urban school districts, was the crux of the case.
The settlement covered four key areas:
• Instructional Materials: All students, including English learners, must have sufficient access to standards-aligned instructional materials or textbooks in all core subject areas for use in class and at home.
• Facilities: All schools must be safe, clean, and in good repair.
• Teacher Credentialing and Assignment: All schools must have teachers that are appropriately certificated for their specific teaching assignment, including English Learner Authorization.
• Public Reporting: All schools must include information on the sufficiency of instructional materials, repair of school facilities, and teacher misassignments and vacancies in their School Accountability Report Card (SARC). Additionally, all schools, not including charter schools, must post a notice in each classroom informing parents, guardians, pupils, and teachers of their right to file a Williams complaint regarding instructional materials sufficiency, facilities good repair, and teacher vacancy or misassignments.
In fiscal year 2013/2014, the Local Control Funding Formula was implemented and made significant changes to education statute. Williams Settlement requirements for all schools remained in effect and were further distinguished as the first of eight state priorities that must be addressed in mandated Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs). This means all schools (monitored and those that are not) must continue adhering to Williams Settlement legislation requirements and all districts must identify and address actions that will be taken each year to achieve and/or correct any deficiencies related to Williams Settlement compliance in their LCAPs.
In fiscal year 2021/2022, new criteria were established with the passage of Assembly Bill 599, which replaced the previously used Academic Performance Index, to identify a list of schools, including charter schools, to be monitored by the County Superintendent to ensure Williams Settlement compliance. The criteria included schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement and additional targeted support and improvement pursuant to the Every Student Succeeds Act. In addition, the criteria included schools, where 15 percent or more of the teachers held a permit or certificate lesser than a preliminary or clear California teaching credential. In accordance with Education Code Section 1240, the list of schools identified is set to be reestablished by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in the 2024/2025 fiscal year and every three fiscal years thereafter. The 2023/2024 fiscal year was the second year of the fifth cohort. 133 schools in the county were subject to review and received at least one site visit.
San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools (SBCSS) review teams conducted the instructional materials and facilities reviews at all monitored schools within their first four weeks of the 2023/2024 school year based on district-specific start dates. At the conclusion of the instructional materials monitoring process, there were no schools with instructional materials insufficiencies, meaning that any shortages identified at the time of visitation were resolved by the eight-week deadline specified in Education Code.
Overall, the SBCSS review teams found facilities conditions to be in good repair. Only one emergency condition was reported due to play/sports equipment that posed an extreme safety hazard. The most common deficiencies reported in order of frequency include sink/fountain not working properly followed by fire extinguishers missing monthly sign off, restrooms not adequately stocked with menstrual products, and observances of significant cracks, holes, or deterioration on playgrounds or school grounds.
A separate review was conducted to evaluate each monitored school’s SARC for accuracy of information reported to the public pertaining to the sufficiency of instructional materials and the condition of school facilities based on statutory requirements and SBCSS monitoring findings. During the review, if any inaccuracies were observed, a resolution along with a deadline were communicated to districts/schools. Only one school had an inaccurate SARC at the conclusion of the review period.
The annual teacher assignment monitoring and review process continues to experience significant delays due to changes in state reporting deadlines that have impacted the California Statewide Assignment Accountability System monitoring process. Prior to implementation of the legislative changes in the 2019/2020 school year, the 90-day review process routinely took place between April and June using data from the current school year. Included in this report are the most recent review findings for the 2022/2023 fiscal year, which took place between August 1 and November 1, 2023. The 2023/2024 fiscal year review began August 1, 2024, and closed on October 30, 2024. The findings will be included in a subsequent report.
The 2022/2023 fiscal year review was the second year where SBCSS was required to review 100 percent of all certificated assignments. The 2022/2023 fiscal year review concluded with 717 teacher vacancies countywide (representative of 563 schools) with 171 (24 percent) of those vacancies occurring at Williams-monitored sites. Regarding overall misassignments (which include vacancies as of Census Date and corrected and uncorrected misassignments), there were 1,133 countywide with 477 of those occurring at Williams-monitored sites (42 percent). Misassignments are most prevalent in the general education setting and observed more frequently at the high school level.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed Finance (Allegra Pajot, Administrative Analyst, 387-5005) on October 15, 2024; and County Finance and Administration (Matthew Erickson, County Chief Financial Officer, 387-5423) on October 24, 2024.