The Healdsburg Unified School District will be receiving a $150,000 allocation as part of the A-G completion improvement grant, which aims to provide schools with funds to help increase the number of high schools students, particularly foster youth, English learners and low-income students, who graduate with A-G requirements.
An A-G completion means a student has met the minimum admission requirements for a University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) school.
To complete A-G, students must complete 15 year-long courses with a letter grade of C or better and at least 11 of the courses must be completed prior to the start of 12th grade.
In part, some of the required courses include: two years of social science, world history and U.S. history; four years of English; three years of college prep math, IM, IM 2, and a third year of either IM3, statistics or computer science; two or three years for a UC of science in biology, chemistry or physics; two years of a language other than English; one year of a visual performing arts; and one year of a college prep elective.
The grant is part of California State Legislature AB130, an education finance trailer bill that was approved last year by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
According to the district, the allocated funds can be spent now through the 2025-26 school year and the spending plan must describe how the funds will increase or improve services for students to improve their A-G eligibility, including the opportunity to retake “D,” “F,” or “Fail” A-G courses in the 2021-22 school year.
Erin Fender, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction, said the funds must supplement, not supplant, services identified in the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP).
The LCAP is a strategic plan that describes which actions and services will be provided to maximize educational opportunities for every student, especially those facing challenges associated with poverty, foster care and learning English as a second language.
With the grant, the HUSD plans to increase opportunities for low-income students, foster youth and English learners to recover credits in A-G courses through:
– Learning center courses through the 2021-22 school year
– Increased use of PLATO and EdOptions online coursework software.
– Additional sections of A-G courses during the school year and summer school.
– Provide fee waivers for advanced placement (AP) course exams.
Fender said over the years, the district has implemented a number of measures to help students reach A-G requirements or to make up the A-G classes.
Some of these measures include offering free after-school tutoring, having a standard seventh period course for all high school grade levels, having the new freshman compass/Ethnic studies course, having the 11th grade college and career seminar, having a full-service college and career center, having 11th grade academic internship, offering a wide variety of AP courses, offering an AVID program, and among others, counselor support.
For the 2020-21 school, Healdsburg High School’s overall A-G completion rate was 71%, while Sonoma County’s overall A-G completion rate for that year was just 33%.
Fender said what hinders the district’s percentage from going up is not a lack of classes offered, rather it’s students who struggle to obtain a C or better in A-G classes.
Still, Healdsburg High School has a higher A-G completion rate than many other neighboring schools. For the 2020-21 school year, Windsor had a completion rate of 41% and Cloverdale had a rate of 52%.
“It makes me proud to see Healdsburg embracing the A-G standards,” said school board trustee Aracely Romo-Flores.
School board president Mike Potmesil said while some kids may not end up going to college, even if they’ve met A-G for a UC or CSU, it is still vitally important that they have that foundation in life and that choice should they choose to pursue college later in life.
