The La Cañada Unified School District held their meeting on Monday to discuss back-to-school enrollment numbers and continuing COVID-19 protocols to start the new school year fresh.
Superintendent Wendy Sinnette updated the LCUSD Board of Education on the district’s most recent enrollment number, which at 3,970 is better than expected. The district expects that number to fluctuate as school sites process new enrollments and last-minute withdrawals during the first few months of the school year.
The budgeted goal for enrollment this year is 3,940. The target number over the past decade, according to Sinnette, is between 4,050 and 4,150, but enrollment dipped following the pandemic.
“It provided for reasonable growth — a projected increase of 42 students over the total enrollment in 2022-23, which was 3,898,” said Sinnette.
She said enrollment is one of the biggest areas of focus over summer and is happy to report that, in terms of operational efficiencies and ensuring healthy enrollment trends, the district has achieved an excellent outcome.
“But all good news is that we are in an exceptional place in terms of enrollment,” said Sinnette. “The numbers demonstrate that enrollment is healthy and LCUSD is fully enrolled and quite efficiently enrolled. We are excited because we’ve had a healthy number of new resident enrollments.”
There have been 320 new resident enrollments to the district and the lowest ratio of students is in the 1st grade, while the highest ratio of students is in 5th and 6th grade.
“The current enrollment at LCE will be 635, PCY at 663, PCR at 612, [LCHS] 7/8 at 678 and [LCHS] 9-12 at 1,382,” said Sinnette. “We are seeing that we’re somewhere between 70 to 90 students greater than we had last year.”
“I’d like to welcome students, teachers, staff, administrators, families, governing board and everyone affiliated with LCUSD back to a new school year,” said Sinnette. “We’re excited about the ’23-24 school year, and by all accounts, we are off to a great start, and it’ll be an outstanding year.”
LCUSD Board President Joe Radabaugh shared the same excitement as Sinnette.
“From my vantage points, I’ve never been prouder of all the positive things happening throughout LCUSD at the start of a new year,” said Radabaugh. “Our school district continues to be one of the best in the state, and this is because of our amazing staff, family, students and community. Our staff members are dedicated to providing our students with the best possible education.”
He thanked the community for their ongoing support and emphasized the importance of involvement in their children’s education.
“Go Spartans, Panthers, Lions and Cougars,” said Radabaugh. “I look forward to having an amazing 2023-2024 school year.”
Other Board members shared the same sentiment.
“I really want to say thank you to everybody who’s worked so hard to get us off on the right foot this year,” said Board member Octavia Thuss. “I am super excited for the students coming back to campus. Thank you to the teachers for all the preparation.”
HEALTH AND SAFETY PLAN
Although COVID-19 hospital admission levels are low in Los Angeles County as of Tuesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cases are rising due to new variants.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed with the district, “that there has recently been a slight uptick in COVID-19 positive cases in Los Angeles County, there is a new variant (EG.5), and a new COVID-19 vaccine should be available in the fall,” read the agenda for the meeting.
LCUSD is following three COVID-19 requirements this school year for their health and safety plan that were in place last year.
“This is exciting because for the first time since March 20, 2020, COVID is not front and center in our reality, whether you’re bringing students back from the lockdown or reopening a new school year,” said Sinnette.
Since the pandemic, the district has followed protocol orders issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
The three remaining COVID-19 requirements include:
- All positive COVID-19 cases must be isolated for five days starting from the day they experience symptoms or have had a fever.
- Staff returning after isolation with a positive COVID-19 test must mask through day 10, while students are encouraged to mask until day 10.
- All staff must be informed when it has been confirmed that they have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
“They are the same requirements that were in place when we closed for the ‘22-23 school year,” said Sinnette. “LCUSD will continue to remind staff and families for staff and students to stay home when they’re ill, especially when they are with a fever. If students and staff are ill with COVID symptoms, we do encourage them to test for COVID and report any positive cases to their school’s health clerk. LCUSD continues to implement all of the health and safety protocols identified in the plan.”
The district continues to remind students and staff to have healthy habits, like frequent hand washing and sanitization.
To view the health and safety plan, click “Board Agendas” on the LCUSD website and the Aug. 14 agenda to find the plan under the consent calendar.
First published in the August 17 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
