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Community Engagement Initiative

The Community Engagement Initiative is part of the California Statewide System of Support.

Legislative Authorization

The California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) and the California Department of Education (CDE) are directed to establish a process to select, subject to the approval of the Executive Director of the State Board of Education (SBE), an agency (Lead Agency) to serve as a lead expert to co-administer the Community Engagement Initiative (Initiative) with the CCEE, pursuant to Assembly Bill 1808, Chapter 32, Section 140, Statutes of 2017–18.

Purpose

The Initiative has been established for the purpose of:

  • Building capacity in communities and school districts to facilitate difficult conversations that focus on improving outcomes for students;
  • Identifying effective models of community engagement and metrics to evaluate those models;
  • Developing effective peer-to-peer partnerships between school districts and county offices of education (COEs) to deepen community engagement;
  • Expanding successful community engagement practices statewide; and
  • Serving as a facilitator, resource connector, capacity builder, and relationship builder concerning school districts’ efforts to develop community engagement.

The CCEE and the CDE selected a Lead Agency to co-administer the Initiative with the CCEE, with approval from the Executive Director of the SBE.

Funding Description

Assembly Bill 1808 apportioned $13,274,000 to establish the Initiative which is to convene professional learning networks for purposes of improving local pupil outcomes and community engagement. The Initiative will also develop and conduct a statewide training on community engagement. The Initiative will be co-administered by the CCEE and a Lead Agency to be selected by the CDE and the CCEE.

Timeline

Activity Due Date
Request for Applications Release Date August 13, 2018
Application Workshop Webinar August 22, 2018
Application Due to CCEE September 27, 2018
Application Evaluation October 9–10, 2018
Announce Initiative Lead Agency October 17, 2018
Appeals received at the CDE October 31, 2018
The Initiative Begins November 1, 2018
Quarterly fiscal report End of each fiscal quarter

Community Engagement Initiative Lead Agency Consortium

The selected Lead Agency Consortium is led by the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. Below are the consortium members and their contact information:

San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
Beth Higbee, Assistant Superintendent
beth.higbee@sbcss.net

California Association for Bilingual Education
Jan Gustafson Corea, Chief Executive Officer
jgcorea@gocabe.org

Families In Schools
Oscar E. Cruz, President and Chief Executive Officer
ocruz@familiesinschools.org

Questions: Integrated Student Support & Programs Office | ISSPO@cde.ca.gov | 916-319-0836 
Last Reviewed: Tuesday, July 18, 2023
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