State Superintendent Thurmond Celebrates Rising Test Scores at Pittsburg Unified and Effectiveness of Community Schools Model

Pittsburg, CA—State Superintendent Tony Thurmond visited Pittsburg Unified School District (PUSD) today to visit with high school students before joining Assemblymember Anamarie Ávila Farías, Contra Costa County Board of Education Trustee Yazmin Llamas, PUSD Superintendent Dr, Janet Schulze, PUSD Board President Heliodoro Moreno, PUSD Board of Education members, educators, staff and students at a special press event to celebrate the district’s impressive gains in literacy, math, and science assessment scores following their adoption of the community schools model.

Statewide assessment results show that the number of PUSD students who met or exceeded standard in English Language Arts (ELA) increased by 4.6 percent since last year, while the rate of students who met or exceeded standard rose by 1.5 percent in math and 2.9 percent in science. In addition, students’ average scale score increased in every grade level and nearly every student demographic group for ELA and math.

“I commend the hard work of the educators and students in Pittsburg Unified, and I’m proud to have led a reinvestment in public education across the state,” Superintendent Thurmond said. “I have been a longtime advocate for community schools because they break down barriers that limit student and family access to needed services and resources, ensuring the school site itself becomes a community hub to meet families’ needs and deepens relationships between the campus and the community. When our schools address the needs of the whole child, we see outcomes like those in Pittsburg Unified.”

Pittsburg Unified has accelerated student achievement by maximizing their use of statewide resources, including the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP), which has seen a total investment of $4.1 billion since its launch in 2021.

California’s community schools strategy builds partnerships between public schools and community organizations to provide resources, such as mental health services or family outreach such as home visits and home-school collaboration, that engage families and serve the whole child. Thurmond has championed community schools for almost 20 years, first as a school board member in West Contra Costa, where he authored the resolution that made the entire district a full-service community schools district, and then as a California Assemblymember, where he supported community schools legislation. As State Superintendent, Thurmond has led the largest community schools implementation in the nation with more than a 1,000 community schools sites across California.

Superintendent Schulze credits the test score increases to the hard work of the teachers and staff of Pittsburg Unified and their approach to teaching and learning, continuous improvement, and the needs of the whole child. PUSD is a full-service community schools district thanks to funding from the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP). Targeted tutoring support for students has also proved impactful, benefitted by funding from the California Extended Learning and Opportunities Program (ELOP).

“Thank you to the State Superintendent for this beautiful recognition of everyone’s hard work,” said Superintendent Schulze. “These gains across multiple areas indicate positive change across our whole system. This is due to the structures, systems and strategies we have collaboratively put in place that allow our scholars’ brilliance to shine.”

PUSD’s progress comes after significant investments in K–12 public education championed and secured by Superintendent Thurmond, which have accelerated learning, including $7.9 billion for the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant, an additional $215 million to expand the existing Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Grant Program, and $200 million to support professional learning for elementary school educators.

Today’s school visit and press event follows the California Department of Education's (CDE's) news release of statewide literacy and math assessment scores earlier this month. Watch a recording of the press conference on the CDE Facebook page . More information about the Community Schools Model can be found on the CDE California Community Schools Partnership Program web page.

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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100