Update on WCCUSD Board Meeting to Hear Public Input for Portola Middle School

The West Contra Costa Unified School Distict Board of Education convened a special meeting this past Wednesday, March 27 to hear the community’s vision for the new Portola Middle School campus.  

A crowd of 50-80 attended with representation from across southern WCCUSD.

Principal Matt Burnham received a thunderous ovation for his presentation and his accomplishments. Around 20 speakers offered strong support for current school improvement efforts while sharing visions for growth.

The evening resulted in an overwhelmingly positive exploration of ways to expand on current successes.

Converging factors prompted the board to call this meeting.

After 10 long years, the new campus is becoming a reality. WCCUSD received six bids for the new Portola building. The contract should be approved at our April 10 meeting.

The board also wants to honor growing elementary parent commitment through GoPortola, “an inclusive forum for potential, future, current, and past families of Portola Middle School to share information and foster long-term community involvement in Portola.”

Additionally, the board acknowledges that schools in the El Cerrito family have significant attrition of students — the highest in WCCUSD — a trend we want to reverse.

Superintendent Bruce Harter gave a data rich presentation illuminating the Portola-El Cerrito family of schools. Dr. Harter's data confirms that schools in the southern district lose far more students than other regions. Neighboring Albany USD attracts 450 WCCUSD students with Berkeley and Accalanes serving close this number.

Student loss is a serious concern and a main reason for this meeting. Competitor districts receive higher per pupil funding than WCCUSD and serve fewer low resource students, a situation Governor Brown is trying to address with the Local Control Funding Formula.  

Portola serves elementary schools with the highest and lowest API scores in WCCUSD, creating substantial challenges in serving all students well.

Principal Matt Burnham presented an overview of Portola's current standing and future plans. Extreme student performance range presents challenge to academic growth. As public education proponent Bill Daggett states, equity is in conflict with excellence, yet Portola's greatest strength resides in student diversity.

My Portola alumna daughter attends a highly selective East Coast college. Witnessing the effects of sheltered upbringing on her privileged classmates, she is thankful every day for the perspective given by her WCCUSD education. We must strengthen learning for all students, but we offer an unrivaled lesson in community.

To better address individual learning needs, Mr. Burnham requested support to implement Universal Design for Learning and all day learning center on campus. By providing more options and personalized support for all students, Portola will better serve its diverse student body.

Public comment speakers represented current and potential future Portola parents. Recurring themes centered on keeping a safe and well-behaved campus, improving academic rigor and offering more electives. Views were more mixed on physical education waivers. Many students play sports and may want to take more classes, an option sought by a few speakers.

Others felt that PE brings the school together and provides important developmental, social and health education needed by all students. Parents from Washington Elementary’s dual Spanish/English immersion program sought assurance that the program will continue on through Portola to El Cerrito High School.

The Board then addressed specific proposals to attract and retain more students. To support strengthened middle school learning, I proposed that WCCUSD attain a Scholar-in-Residence next year versed in Universal Design for Learning. This one year position will add substantially to WCCUSD's capacity to deliver a more personalized learning experience, moving away from one-size-fits-all.

The Board then directed staff to develop a vibrant "School-of-the-Arts"-type program centered around the ECHS Theater and restore elementary music district-wide. Finally, the board made physical education waivers more accessible to parents wanting the option.

WCCUSD staff will develop ideas generated at our March 27 meeting into detailed plans for board action.

Review the WCCUSD Board Agenda or turn to agenda previews on my blog to see when the items are up for adoption. This update will also be cross posted on my blog.