Santa Rosa schools chief praises infusion of state funds

Santa Rosa City Schools Superintendent Socorro Shiels on Friday lauded Gov. Jerry Brown’s two-year-old education funding policy as a necessary “redistribution of wealth.”

Speaking at a luncheon hosted by Latino leadership organization Los Cien, Shiels said Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula ensures the state’s neediest districts get more dollars.

The formula targets additional funds to districts with a high concentration - 55 percent or more - of English learners, low-income students and foster youths, districts Shiels said need the money more than their affluent counterparts.

“It’s not really a detriment to students who don’t need (the money),” Shiels said.

Shiels said Santa Rosa City Schools, which is made up of both an elementary and high school district, is putting together its road map for spending state funds, known as the Local Control Accountability Plan.

The plan, an administrative requirement under the governor’s funding formula, calls for districts to focus on key goals such as meeting students’ basic classroom needs; boosting parental involvement; reducing dropout rates and increasing graduation rates; and bolstering academic achievement.

“We have to invest in doing things different,” Shiels said.

Santa Rosa allocates $2 million in Local Control funds to schools, while $13.9 million will be used for districtwide programs and initiatives. To determine the use of these funds, schools establish “site councils” made up of teachers, administrators, staff and parents (as well as student at the high school level).

Friday’s forum included a panel discussion on countywide efforts to create a more equitable education system. The panel included representatives from local school districts, Santa Rosa Junior College and Sonoma State University, as well as 5th District Supervisor Efren Carrillo and Santa Rosa City Councilman Tom Schwedhelm.

Jeremy Decker, superintendent of the Cloverdale Unified School District, indicated that Latino students comprise 54 percent of his district’s student population, while 62 percent of the student population is low income.

Under Brown’s funding formula, the Cloverdale district gets even more funding because 64 percent of students are either low-income, English learners or foster youth, far surpassing the 55 percent threshold required to qualify for the funds.

“It’s very much helped us hire positions that we wouldn’t otherwise have been able to hire,” said Decker.

But Robert Haley, superintendent of the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District and another panelist, said he’s “not a fan” of the funding formula. He said that his district has a significant number of English learners but does not get the extra “concentration” funding since it does not hit the 55 percent threshold.

“We have a lot of needs, but we don’t get the same dollars as those districts do,” Haley said.

Haley said he would like to see the governor’s office rework the funding formula in such a way that concentration funds are awarded based on a school’s needs, not the district’s.

“It should be about schools, not about districts,” Haley said.

Shiels said the Santa Rosa School Board is currently reviewing the required annual update of its Local Control plan. Public discussions of the plan have already been held at two previous school board meetings and two more are planned for June.

The process of fine-tuning the funding plan is a continuous cycle, Shiels said.

“We have to look back and forward. Did those investments work?” said Shiels after the meeting in a text message. “Should they continue? Are there different, new or better ways to invest valuable resources,” Shiels said.

The plan, along with those of all other county school districts, must be submitted to the Sonoma County Office of Education by July 1.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish.