Honors

At the first of two June Fullerton Joint Union High School District (FJUHSD) board meetings, the trustees honored Troy High School Cyber Patriot students for placing second in the 2021/22 National Cyber Patriot Youth Cyber Defense Challenge hosted by the Air Force Association.

Led by TRHS JROTC instructor Allen Stubblefield along with coaches David Kim and Christian Nguyen, the group has increased from 120 students to over 300 in the past five years. Student teams of six to eight members dedicate a week during summer along with biweekly meetings to enact various cyber-based scenarios learning about security and advanced computer science-based activities.

This year the “Runtime Terror” team consisting of students Brian Ni, Justin Huang, Johnny Ni, Chan Chung, Anna Wu, and Tai-yu Chen achieved runner up at the in-person National competition. Participating students can qualify for a Varsity letter provided by the parent support organization.

Image courtesy of Fullerton Joint Union High School District.

Union Contracts

The district successfully negotiated three-year contracts with both the teacher’s (FSTO) union and classified staff (CSEA) union.

FSTO President Angie Cencak and CSEA President Joe Sliker both mentioned that a majority of the teachers and support staff believed that these are fair contracts, and the talks went smoothly mainly due to the increased transparency and respect they believe both Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Dr. Ed Atkinson, and Superintendent Dr. Steve McLauglin brought to this year’s negotiations.

New Principal at La Habra High School

The Trustees announced the departure of La Habra High School Principal Matthew Eeles and announced that Mr. Steve Garcia will move from his Assistant Principal position at Fullerton High School to become La Habra Principal for the new 2022/23 school year.

Local Control Accountability Plan

Assistant Superintendent of Education Dr. Sylvia Kaufman introduced the 2022/23 Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and said that since starting this process in 2013, this document now explains how a school district allocates a majority of its yearly funds to serve all students.

Specially designated student populations who experience low income, are learning English, are experiencing homelessness, and designated foster youth require additional funds and that is delineated throughout the plan along with a specific area at the end.

The State designates eight goals that FJUHSD separates into three main areas on the plan that show how teachers, programs, and additional support staff serve all District students and these costs must align with the District’s newly submitted yearly budget.

Steve Zamora, Director of Education, highlighted the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) process for the Trustees, and mentioned 2022 LCAP data that contradicts some general assumptions made concerning effects of distance pandemic learning environments.

FJUHSD’s 2021/22 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) scores increased in English Language assessment of met and exceeded standards by 2% to 65.7% (CA state average 59% and OC 66.8%) and in mathematics with a 9% increase to 51% (CA 34.36% and OC 45.9%).

The LCAP lists student support programs with their price tags like the new 24/7 tutor.com program that allows all district students access to a tutor at their convenience and reinstalling the Naviance program to all schools that helps students learn about personal education interests along with career and college information.

In other areas, programs for yearround student nutritional support and mental health and social and emotional program support will be available to all students. Specified student populations services like parental translation services, additional tutoring support, ongoing hot spots and technical support, and staff availability are listed throughout the three goal areas and in a special section at the end of the LCAP.

2022/23 Budget

Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Ruben Hernandez presented the 2022/23 budget of $202 million that includes projected expenditures of $211 million. The current budget does not include additional one-time State and federal money.

The district is correctly generous projecting their expenditures and conservative on determining their income, which has created an over $55 million district reserve.

The budget allocates less than 75% on salaries and benefits even with new contracts and one-time bonuses making it extremely conservative and leaves the school district in a strong fiscal position.

Mr. Hernandez pointed out the ongoing concerns of inflation, declining enrollment (a nationwide issue), and a hefty bill to pay for CalPERS and CalSTRS pensions and benefits.

Once Governor Newsom and the legislature determine the various education budget compromises for the upcoming year, the trustees will have 45 days to adjust the current budget accordingly.

The trustees approved the 2022 LCAP and budget at the June 21 board meeting with no additional comments or questions. The LCAP and budget are available to read on the FJUHSD agenda website.

The next FJUHSD board meeting is July 26 at 6pm.

Regular Sessions are held at 6 pm monthly in the Ed Center Board Room, 1051 West Bastanchury Road, Fullerton. For agenda go to: www.fjuhsd.org or call (714) 870-2800