In June, both Fullerton School District (FSD) and Fullerton Joint Union High School District (FJUHSD) approved their 2026/27 Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAP) and budgets. The districts are both fiscally healthy and dispersing funds to serve their students in positive ways.

Each district organizes its LCAP into subcategories to include the state’s eight priorities and its own local goals, aligns district funding with programs and services, and uses similar metrics to measure academic achievement.

High school goals consider additional metrics such as graduation rates and A-G completion rates (passing a set of classes that the University of California System uses to rate students’ college readiness).

Both districts get input from numerous stakeholders, including student, parent, and staff surveys.

The LCAP reviews effective academic programs, particularly for identified special populations where creative changes address ongoing issues. English Learners (EL) and Long-Term English Learners (LTEL) (students in the EL program for 6+ years) comprise a special population, along with low-income, housing-challenged students and Foster Youth, as uniquely recognized student populations that require additional resources to achieve equitable educational outcomes.

The academic goal for English learners is to reclassify students as Redesignated Fluent English Proficient (RFEP). Students achieve RFEP by earning a score of 4 on the English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC), a grade of “C” or higher in their grade-level English Language Arts (ELA) class, obtaining a positive teacher evaluation of their understanding of English language skills, and having their guardian’s signed approval for reclassification. After accomplishing these 4 steps, a student is considered fluent in English. The state funds additional support services for 4 years after a student’s reclassification to address any ELA learning issues.

FSD concentrated on reclassifying EL students and embedding academic rigor in EL-dedicated instruction. With mixed results, FSD reclassification fell from 19% to 14.5% over three years; however, English acquisition progress increased by 2.4%, and overall EL student academic achievement showed a 5.1% rise in ELA state testing scores and a 6.3% rise in math scores.
FSD continues to reassess best practices for its designated EL program, particularly by reviewing LTEL-specific instruction and expanding parent education and outreach, including explanations of procedures and ongoing support. FSD raised its districtwide ELA scores to over 23.9% above the state average, and its math scores are 2.2% above the state average.

FJUHSD’s top priority is to raise the entire student population’s college and career readiness metric. RFEP plays a strong role in this goal, and the reclassification rate for EL students rose 11% in 3 years to 20% in 2025. FJUHSD’s state testing scores stayed flat over this timeframe, and the a-g completion rate districtwide rose 3%, with English Learners only rising 1%.
Last year, A-G student qualification and transcript access were transferred over to the California College Guidance Initiative database (CCGI). In August 2025, Cradle2College state researchers warned districts would see a 1-3% increase in student A-G completion rates as it unified the system and eliminated a majority of operator error. FJUHSD’s 3% increase falls within this range and aligns with the district’s state test scores.

Both districts focused on bringing down chronic absenteeism. Engaged students attend school at higher rates, achieve better academic outcomes, leading to more opportunities in higher education and career opportunities.

FSD focused on strengthening academic support, social service availability, and student activity engagement, lowering chronic absenteeism from 4.2% to 9.1% in 2025, and EL chronic absenteeism rates went from 15% to 9.5%.

FJUHSD addressed chronic absenteeism by installing a student activity tracking app and implementing home visits, which lowered rates by 1.3% over the same time frame to 15.7%.

The FSD LCAP shared parent concerns about screen time and parent understanding of district program options. The district is currently assessing screen time limits at school and at home with new recommendations projected by this fall. The elementary district continues to communicate with parents and prospective parents about various programs and services available to FSD children.

The FJUHSD LCAP listed parental concerns regarding student cell phone use and earlier academic interventions. FJUHSD increased student academic supports by expanding Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) programs to all comprehensive high schools and extending library hours. Cell phone usage was not addressed in this LCAP.

A district’s LCAP is full of data and action information, each telling the district’s unique story, but it can also be dense and difficult for parents to understand the services and programs offered.

The goal for both FSD and FJUHSD’s LCAP should be to tell the district’s story, set the goals, assess what is working, and creatively engage with stakeholders to address the challenges for the future success of all students.