Richland improves in English and match, but absenteeism doubles

The Richland School District is on track with their budget so far this year, according to the LCAP report that tracks educational and financial goals.

The district's Board of Trustees received the midyear report Tuesday night, The budgetary evaluation was "satisfactory," with the only difference from the budget and the actual spending so far is the money which was used as part of the emergency covid funding that every district received.

On the educational front, the district is hitting a lot of its goals, including decreasing the gap in the standards for English and math when compared to the goals and standards set by the state. Assistant Superintendent Annette Blacklock said that the district has been working hard to meet or exceed its goals and been successful in many of their endeavors.

They also saw the district meet or exceed their goals for special education students. Over 50% of special education students participate in a regular classroom environment at least 80% of the school day.

One area still on the decline in the district is the amount of chronic absenteeism. At the beginning of the cycle, the rate was at 11%. The district set a goal to decrease that number by 5%. The opposite happened, with absenteeism almost doubling to 21%..

In other action, the board approved a field trip for special education students to the campus of Fresno State University, where they will attend workshops and also get to attend a sporting event.

The board also voted to give a notice to PINCO, the Partners in Nutrition Cooperative, which the district uses for their food supply needs for their menus. Financial Director Martin Rodriguez told the board that the cooperative has been inconsistent with fulfilling their orders, have not been timely in their deliveries and have not lived up to the agreement and standards set by the board and the district. Rodriguez said that the board would be better served to go with a different cooperative, and the selection process could begin immediately. The vote was unanimous. This would affect the district beginning in the 2025-26 school year.