The event was a joint effort by BHC and partner groups like Cultiva La Salud, Healthy Equity Project and the Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) that provided dozens of MCSD parents with a chance to air concerns over the district’s spending. In total, more than two-dozen families were in attendance, speaking four different languages and representing a wide swath of the community concerned over the lack of transparency in the district’s Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP).
The LCAP is a statewide requirement for school districts that must show how each agency plans to spend money provided through the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Like many districts, MCSD relies on LCFF dollars for a majority of its budget and the state funds accounted for 75 percent of the district’s $134 million 2016-2017 budget. About $21 million of those LCFF funds are considered equity-based and intended specifically for high-need populations like foster youth, low-income students and English Learners.
LCFF goals include increasing student test scores and English comprehension, providing clean, safe and secure learning environments and increasing parent participation. Parents are also supposed to have a say in how local schools carry out their LCAP, a goal Corchado and other local advocates say is essential for Merced families.
“All the parents we work with have always wanted to participate in their kids education. They’ve always wanted to get involved in the school but they just didn’t know how,” she said.
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