The Broad Residency Capstone:

Pomona Unified School District | School Reconfiguration Project

Kandace T. Jones, MBA

TBR VI

April 26, 2010

 Pomona Unified School District | School Reconfiguration Project

ABSTRACT

Districts in Program Improvement status must implement aggressive reform efforts in order to

drive the change necessary to dramatically increase student achievement. My capstone paper will

outline how Pomona Unified School District implemented a district-wide school reconfiguration initiative

to drive student achievement in its lowest performing schools and ensure students in all clusters of the

district had equal access to high quality educational options. I served as the School Reconfiguration

Project Lead and led the cross-functional team through the roll-out of the first set of reconfigured

schools. This paper will cover the following phases of the process: initial facilities study and needs

assessment, board member engagement, community/family/staff engagement, selection of schools to

reconfigure, phasing in implementation, and roll-out.

SITUATION

The Pomona Unified School District (PUSD) was identified as a Program Improvement District,

Year 3, in the 2006-07 Accountability Progress report. As such, the District is mandated to take

corrective action by fully implementing a standards-aligned curriculum, revising and implementing a

Local Education Agency (LEA) plan for improvement, and aligning its resources to support the

accomplishment of that plan. The significance of program improvement for the purposes of this

summary is that the district must develop a comprehensive plan for improvement for the District at-

large and the identified schools and that the resources of the District must be aligned with that plan for

improvement. The indicators suggested that the most immediate attention must be paid to the middle

school program generally. The District reached its highest student enrollment at the 2002 reporting

date with an enrollment of 35,427 students. Subsequently, the enrollment has declined steadily to its

current level of approximately 30,000 students, representing a 13.1% loss over the five year period.

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 Pomona Unified School District | School Reconfiguration Project

Evidence suggested that there were negative perceptions in the general PUSD community

regarding the quality of schools and programs available and the general conditions provided for

students and staff. Some of these conditions related to perceived inequities among the high school

clusters within the district and others related to conditions in comparison to other local school districts.

One specific negative perception was that three of the high school clusters do not provide the same

quality of programs and conditions that are evident in the wealthiest cluster of the district. Evidence

suggests that schools within the wealthiest cluster receive the highest rate of intra-district transfers

among the other high school cluster groups. The district at large was experiencing a high rate of inter-

district transfers to schools outside the district. The prominent reason identified for students attending

schools outside of the district included: concerns regarding the safety and security of the campuses,

lack of high quality signature programs, lack of curb appeal of the campuses, lack of a welcoming school

environment for students, parents, and the community.

The staff survey, community dialogues, and other data emphasize the importance of special

programs, specifically career pathway programs and programs for the arts. The concern was voiced that

lack of resources and too much emphasis on standardized testing have curtailed such specialized

offerings in the schools of the District. The collected data support the notion that such special programs

should be offered in the lower grades and follow a well-articulated transition into advanced programs at

the secondary level. This issue is complicated by ineffective communication and program articulation

among schools and grade levels within the District. It was suggested by cluster groups that students are

unable to follow a clear, continuous academic pathway through the system because such pathways are

not defined and communicated. This issue extends to the lack of articulation with institutions of higher

education and industry sectors. The survey and community dialogues also highlighted a concern that

the facilities necessary to support high quality programs are in disrepair or are non-existent. Those

reasons may include inadequate maintenance, need for upgrading of equipment, de-emphasis of
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 Pomona Unified School District | School Reconfiguration Project

programs, or lack of relevancy in programmatic approach. The following programs were noted as

needing upgraded/increased facilities: Athletic facilities, science labs, visual and performing arts spaces,

alternative education program, vocational technical program space upgrades, and lack of early

childhood development on every campus.

PUSD adopted in the summer of 2007 six essentials for providing quality education for students:

Responsive Instruction, Student Work and Data, Professional Development, Shared Leadership, Family

and Community, and Aligned Resources. Together, the six essentials support the three fundamental

tenets of the district: respect, responsibility, and results.

As an initiative to create momentum in support of these six essentials, the District secured the

services of HMC Architects to develop a Framework to Manage, Maintain, and Program District

Facilities. This framework is traditional in that it has the basic components of a facilities master plan;

however, it is unique in that it focuses on the quality of instruction and the effectiveness of curricular

design that ultimately support all of the six essentials adopted by the District. This elaboration on the

format for a traditional facilities master plan allows for the community and staff to assess the overall

effectiveness of the district, identify critical issues and concerns, and contribute suggestions for

improvement. Although the framework focuses on the facilities, the scope of the study implies that all

areas of school and district performance are impacted by the quality and relevance of the district’s

facility resources.

MY ROLE

In July of 2008, I was appointed the project lead for School Reconfiguration. In this role, I led a

cross-functional team with representative leadership from across all district offices and two consulting

organizations (HMC Architects and Cambridge Education) in developing a 5-year plan for providing

diverse educational options throughout each of the District’s four educational clusters. I was charged
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 Pomona Unified School District | School Reconfiguration Project

with coordinating the development of recommendations for what models should move forward, the

roll-out strategy (including managing contractors for facilities design), community outreach and the

implementation of the models.

THE PROCESS

The alignment of resources with the key objectives for student learning was fundamental to the

facilities study. Such alignment required that curricular delivery models be identified and clarified and

that the school campuses themselves be modified to support these models of instruction.

Correspondingly, this framework examined school configuration options, instructional program

development, and facility requirements to support school and program reform.

The Framework to Manage, Maintain, and Program District Facilities was structured according

to thirteen primary tasks. Task 1 was the Kick off Workshop with District Superintendent and

Personnel and Information Collection. The initial facilities study was conducted under the oversight of

the Business Services Division; however, overall leadership was provided by the Superintendent.

Consequently, numerous meetings were conducted through the summer and fall with the

Superintendent and the Chief Business Officer in order to establish key parameters of the framework.

Subsequently kickoff presentations were provided to the governing board and all District management

staff.

Task 2 was Enrollment Projection. The agreement with the district specified that HMC would

use existing district data to analyze enrollment history on a district, cluster (PUSD is made up of 4

clusters), and school basis. That data considered the enrollment trends over the most recent seven

years.

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 Pomona Unified School District | School Reconfiguration Project

Task 3 was a Work Session on Current Needs and Program Drivers by cluster. This task was

initiated by meeting with the high school principals and the Assistant Superintendent of Community

Services to develop cluster group committees to serve as planning groups. Each high school principal

and one other member from each cluster were selected to represent the cluster groups on the district

advisory committee. The work sessions were organized and conducted in order to: 1) identify critical

district-wide and cluster group issues, 2) identify specific facilities needs and 3) identify options to

support improvement.

Task 4 was a Clustered Facility and Land Element Survey. This task was initiated with a meeting

involving District facilities staff who had specific knowledge about why properties were acquired in the

past. A comprehensive listing of all property was conveyed to HMC for consideration as part of the

master plan.

Task 5 was the Formation of Steering Committees. HMC facilitators met with the

Superintendent, Chief Business Officer and the Assistant Superintendent of Community Affairs to

identify key school, district, parent and community personnel to serve on the district-wide advisory

committee. Committee membership was selected to ensure balanced representation from the different

school clusters, the different grade levels and targeted groups (English Learners, Special Education, etc.).

Again, the meeting was facilitated to clarify critical issues, specific facilities needs, and potential options

for improvement. The advisory committee met to review the data that had been collected from all

other resources and consider options for improvement.

Task 6 was Community Dialogues. The district agreed to employ the services of Sintra

Consulting to facilitate four community dialogues relevant to this project. HMC worked with the staff of

Sintra to identify critical topics for discussion and structure community dialogues to inform the

framework. The community dialogues were organized according to cluster groupings and were hosted

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at each comprehensive high school (representing the four clusters of schools). A full report was

prepared by Sintra and organized according to cluster group data. The community dialogues identified

areas of noted improvement in the district and critical areas of need. Additionally, participants

responded to questions related to grade configuration and instructional specialization options.

Task 7 was the Creation of a Long-term Process to Re-invigorate the District’s Core Premise

Yearly. The process and organization that was created to support this framework is the model for the

reinvigoration process that will serve as a continuum for review and revision of this framework. The

advisory and cluster group structure that has been created should constitute standing committees, even

if actual membership is modified periodically. The community dialogues should serve as consistent

outreach to gather community and parent concerns and suggestions. The staff survey mechanism

should be used to index issues and support for options on critical issues. All such engagements should

focus on the analysis of existing data on district issues and concerns. The annual engagement of this

process provides consistent refinement and definition to the findings and responds to the relevant

changes in conditions.

Task 8 was Options and Optimization Development. A variety of options were developed as a

result of the collective inputs of the advisory groups, surveys, and administrative staff. Additionally,

HMC conducted analyses of a variety of data including enrollment trends, site capacity, properties and

holdings, current grade configurations, programmatic findings, student performance, and funding

opportunities. These options were presented to the board along with data to support the options.

Tasks 9-13 were as follows: Finalize Options & Form Recommendations, Funding Options and

Strategies, Board of Education Presentation, a Board of Education Workshop, and the Completion of the

Framework. The final options and recommendations were summarized and presented to the Board in

late fall 2008 (see Appendix for recommendations). The Board approved the recommendations, but

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 Pomona Unified School District | School Reconfiguration Project

asked that we use a “phased approach” to ensure we were not making too many changes at one time

across the district.

OUTCOMES

After the facilities study, the School Reconfiguration Team met weekly (sometimes twice/week)

to coordinate the “phased approach” to the 5-year Reconfiguration Plan. The team used data from

School Quality Reviews (conducted by Cam bridge Education) to inform the recommendations made for

schools within each cluster of the district. The following options were developed for the Superintendent

and the Board (more detailed timelines can be found in the Appendix):

To create coordination and collaboration of resources among schools and the community:
o Provide parent centers at every campus
o Establish district-wide facilities standards appropriate for each school configuration and
type
o Identify and engage community resources to supplement District and school programs
o Create partnerships with higher education institutions and industry agencies utilizing
joint use agreements to maximize facility use

To provide safety and security for students, staff, and visitors:

o Provide/repair fencing around the perimeter of every campus
o Upgrade, repair, and maintain restrooms at every campus
o Repair potholes and maintain safe playfields at every campus
o Upgrade all non-compliant playground equipment

To provide parents and students choices in curricular offerings and types of schools:
o Provide choices of school grade configurations within each cluster of schools
o Provide choices of school types and curricular specialization within each cluster

To achieve consistency in grade level configurations and sizes of schools:

o Standardize curriculum by establishing consistency among the grade configurations:
 Elementary K-6
 Middle 7-8
 High Schools 9-12
o Accomplish school choice by configuring span schools as a combination of standardized
curriculum components:
 K-8 = K-6 + 7-8
 7-12 = 7-8 + 9-12
o Establish standard ranges for school size enrollment

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 Pomona Unified School District | School Reconfiguration Project

To achieve curriculum articulation and provide pathways through school:

o Create specialized programs that begin in the lower grades, transition through the
middle grades, and develop into career/higher education pathways in high school
o Designate/redesign specialized spaces on identified campuses to support specialized
programs

To stabilize student enrollment:

o Create rigorous and relevant instructional programs in each high school cluster that will
attract and retain students
 Develop magnet programs
 Create schools with a specialized curriculum
 Develop academies and schools within schools
o Engage in a public relations program that features exceptional program offerings and
recognizes excellent student performance

To provide quality facilities that support quality programs:

o Upgrade science facilities to support secondary science programs
o Provide quality practice, performance, and exhibition spaces for the arts
o Upgrade and maintain the athletic facilities
o Upgrade the technological capacity of every school, including electrical capacity to
support technology
o Upgrade shops and labs for career-technical programs

To provide school campuses that provide “curb appeal”:

o Implement a management system that expedites response to work orders
o Implement a general landscaping program for every campus
o Repair, upgrade and maintain campus restrooms
o Paint campuses as needed

OUTCOMES

I transitioned the School Reconfiguration project to a consultant (former District administrator)

and the Director of Community outreach prior to leaving the District in summer 2009. The 5-year plan is

currently in year 1 of roll-out. Nine schools have started the reconfiguration process since the beginning

of the 2009-10 school year. This project will be evaluated on an annual basis in order to ensure that

schools have what they need in order to be most successful.

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