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HOW AUHSD DEVELOPED ITS COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

Policies that Advance Community Schools

For complete information, lists, and examples, please see the complete Community Schools Playbook.

Policy Mechanisms

There are a range of policy mechanisms at the federal, state, and local levels to support community schools. Most fall into one of two categories: 1) financial/resourcing support or 2) implementation and technical support.

Examples of the most common mechanisms follow:

• Federal and state community school grant programs
• Inclusion of community schools in a state funding formula
• Support for community schools in state budgets or through specific tax mechanisms
• Alignment of policies and resources across public agencies—such as health and human services, workforce development, and parks and recreation—to advance community schools
• State provision of technical assistance or other support programs (such as networks of districts implementing a community schools strategy or of community school leaders)
• State Board of Education regulations

Key Policy Principles

Policies governing comprehensive community schools are most effective if they adhere to the following principles:

• Define community schools comprehensively, organized around four pillars
• Specify the criteria by which schools will be selected for grants and other types of support
• Provide specific language about the purpose of the four pillars, while allowing for flexibility in local implementation
• Build a strong foundation by specifying key aspects of implementation, including hiring a fulltime community school director for each school, broad and deep engagement in an assessment/ planning process, and regular reporting around implementation and outcome metrics
• Support school transformation strategies aimed at improving teaching and learning, rather than simply focusing on out-of-classroom supports and activities
• Invest in professional development to support collaborative leadership structures and practices and to encourage and facilitate cross-agency collaboration
• Identify a leadership structure and clearly defined next steps, including—where there will be more than one community school—language specifying a cross-sector steering committee or implementation team and a clear articulation of its authority. Baltimore and Los Angeles provide the best examples of this type of language
• Ensure the participation of teachers, families, and communities at every stage of the process
• Address issues of interagency collaboration, including data sharing with appropriate privacy protections
• Specify which entities will need to be involved for successful local implementation
• Invest in professional development to support continuous improvement, the process that follows the broad and deep engagement in an assessment/planning process

Federal Opportunities through ESSA

Policy and funding opportunities within ESSA include the following:

• Title I, Part A requires that states set aside 7% of Title I funds for school improvement in the lowest-performing schools using evidence-based strategies for comprehensive or targeted support and intervention. This is a significant funding stream that can be used to support the development of community schools, which qualify as an “evidence-based intervention.”4 12 Community Schools Playbook More than a dozen states have seized this opportunity and identified community schools as a strategy to support underperforming schools in their initial ESSA plans. (See Section III, “Community Schools in ESSA State Plans” for a summary of those states’ ESSA plan initiatives.)

• Titles II and IV authorize funding for states to provide programs and supports that attend to the whole child—emotionally, socially, physically, and academically—through educator professional development and the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants programs.

• Title IV authorizes funding to support 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) and Full-Service Community Schools. Although these two grant programs operate differently, they both can be used to support community schools.

• Title I provides that districts can apply for Flexibility for Equitable Per-Pupil Funding, allowing them to develop and implement a school funding system based on weighted per-student allocations for low-income and otherwise disadvantaged students.

Exemplary State Policies

At the state level, The Partnership for the Future of Learning provides four types of policy exemplars:

1) grant programs to develop local community school models and/or support local community school planning and implementation

2) state budget support for community schools

3) technical assistance or other support programs for community schools

4) state board of education regulations advancing community schools.

GRANTS

One of the most powerful—and straightforward—approaches to supporting community schools at the state level is the provision of funding through a grant program. Community school grants not only provide necessary dollars to plan and implement this strategy, they also help to specify the mechanisms of effective implementation essential to achieving positive results. It is important to account for start-up costs, which include the initial hiring of a community school director, planning time needed to form committees at school sites, an assessment of needs and assets, and development of partnerships with agencies providing additional supports and opportunities for students and families. Policies must also provide for sustainable funding to pay the annual salary of the full-time community school directors, who provide critical leadership in both the start-up and implementation of the strategy.

STATE BUDGET SUPPORT

Another approach to supporting community schools involves the provision of funding through the state budgeting process, including providing resources for community schools in the school funding formula and joint funding across departments, such as health and human services, workforce development, and early childhood education. As with state grant programs, this approach requires sufficient and sustained funding to successfully advance community schools.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE & OTHER SUPPORT PROGRAMS

States may also support community schools by issuing guidance and technical assistance regarding the use of flexible federal funds for this purpose, fostering cross-agency alignment, forming children’s cabinets, providing professional development, and forming support networks of schools. While this approach lacks direct funding for the implementation of community schools, it may be a useful step for states presently lacking the political momentum needed to push through more substantial funding proposals.

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION REGULATIONS

State boards of education may issue a policy or resolution in support of community schools. While these resolutions tend to be shorter and less detailed than legislative bills, expressing state support for the implementation of community schools can lay the groundwork for implementing more specific policies to follow at the state or local level. This approach does not, however, provide direct funding for community schools, which tends to be the most powerful policy lever to support meaningful change.

State Model Legislation

See page 18 of the Community Schools Playbook

• Title I, Part A requires that states set aside 7% of Title I funds for school improvement in the lowest-performing schools using evidence-based strategies for comprehensive or targeted support and intervention. This is a significant funding stream that can be used to support the development of community schools, which qualify as an “evidence-based intervention.”4 12 Community Schools Playbook More than a dozen states have seized this opportunity and identified community schools as a strategy to support underperforming schools in their initial ESSA plans. (See Section III, “Community Schools in ESSA State Plans” for a summary of those states’ ESSA plan initiatives.)

Exemplary Local Policies

At the local level, policy exemplars fall into three categories:

1) school board resolutions and policies in support of community schools as a districtwide intervention strategy

2) county/city resolutions or joint agreements

3) mayoral initiatives.

school board resolutions and policies

Local school boards throughout the United States have approved policies and resolutions in support of community schools. As with state board of education regulations, these documents tend to be brief and employ high-level language. However, they can be an important first step in authorizing local education agencies to implement community schools.

County/city resolutions or joint agreements

City councils and city/county government agencies can also play a role in issuing policies supporting community schools. These resolutions are often focused on intergovernmental collaboration, with an emphasis on partnering with the local school district as the entity directly responsible for overseeing community schools.

mayoral initiatives

Mayoral support can also help to drive the local implementation of community schools. When this is the case, the mayor may exert influence by directing city government or local school district resources to support community schools (as in New York City) and through budgetary proposals (as in Philadelphia, PA).

Implementation Resources

Effective implementation requires attention to several factors:

• Pay attention to all four pillars

• Engage in a thoughtful assessment of assets and needs within the school community

• Understand that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to community schools

• Align resources from multiple agencies and organizations toward a set of shared indicators and results

• Allow sufficient time (3-5 years, according to research) for these partnerships to build and take hold

Potential implementation challenges:

Successfully implementing community schools is not simple or easy. But good knowledge exists about how to speed implementation while avoiding common pitfalls.

The following practices should be considered:

• Align the pillars with teaching and learning goals

• Leverage the expertise and assets of the school community

• Support and encourage a community-driven process

• Recognize that leadership culture and habits matter; implementing community school concepts requires more than good intention

• Support a careful and inclusive planning process that begins with “the willing” and provides frequent opportunities for meaningful family/community engagement and collaborative leadership

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