PUSD School Board Supports SB-1050 and Community Schools

Latino and Latina Roundtable, NAACP, and other supporters Get a Supportive Vote on 2 Resolutions from PUSD School Board

“SB-1050”

The Community Development Committee of the Latino and Latina Roundtable has been meeting for quite some time with involvement from parents and some staff from the school district, students from colleges in the region, local government representatives, and members from community-based organizations – in being part of – and supporting the efforts of the College for All Coalition, a statewide coalition of over 50 organizations and labor unions that are committed to reinvesting in public higher education and increasing equity and inclusion.  As a condition of the UC receiving funding from the legislature to increase enrollment slots from the 2015-2016 baseline, UC must develop a plan for increasing the admission of California resident students and LCFF plus students (students who attend high schools that have a 75% – or greater – student enrollment of low-income, English learners and foster youth) of which the Pomona Unified has three high schools that are LCFF plus (Ganesha, Pomona, and Garey) with a total student enrollment of 4,371 students and with a diversity of students (90% Latino; 5% African American; 3% Asian American; 1% Filipino; and 1% White.

After presentations from members of the Latino and Latina Roundtable, the NAACP, and the College for All Coalition, the Pomona School Board voted in support of a bill SB 1050, Senator Kevin de Leon’s college readiness bill, to provide more funding for college readiness resources, expand college enrollment slots, and expand educational opportunity for LCFF plus students and students from first generation backgrounds.

“Community Schools”

After the Latino and Latina Roundtable, NAACP, and other supporters spoke in support of a resolution on the implementation of the concept of “community schools,” the Pomona Unified School Board  voted its support unanimously.There are 51. Million children enrolled in approximately 5,000 community schools in the United States.  They are developed t with the same objective of addressing inequities at both the school and community levels. Some of the aspects that community schools share in their strategic plans include: 1) culturally relevant and engaging curricula; 2) an emphasis on high-quality teaching, not high-stakes testing; 3) wraparound supports, such as health care and social and emotional services; 4) positive discipline practices, such as restorative justice; 5) parent and community engagement; and 6) inclusive school leadership committed to making the transformational community school strategy integral to the school’s mandate and functioning.  Community schools develop   strategic partnerships with businesses, nonprofits, universities, hospitals, and other community-based organizations.

Reminder: Meeting of the Latino and Latina Roundtable this Saturday, June 11th from 1 -3 PM at the Pitzer College Broad Center Room 208 (1050 N. Mills ave.) in Claremont.  We will discuss the implementation of plans regarding LRT website and newsletter, immigrant rights, voter registration, candidate and initiative forums, support of community schools concept, pipeline legislation to higher education, park restoration and murals, our ongoing collaboration with coalition efforts, and other new business.

 

Jose Zapata Calderon

President of the Latino and Latina Roundtable

Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Chicano/a and Latino/a Studies

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