Logo courtey of the Gridley Unified School District

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) – A district self-evaluation presented to the Gridley Unified School District Board of Trustees in June found improvements in middle school safety and student wellness but identified rising cyberbullying among elementary students and continued challenges engaging parents in school decision-making.

The annual California School Dashboard Local Indicators report, required as part of the district’s Local Control and Accountability Plan process, evaluates areas not measured by statewide testing, including school climate, family engagement, access to instructional materials, campus conditions and implementation of state academic standards. The findings are intended to help districts identify strengths and areas needing improvement as they develop goals for the coming school year. The information item required no board action.

The district reported all students had access to standards-aligned instructional materials during the 2023-24 school year and identified no school facilities that failed to meet the state’s “good repair” standard. The report also found students had access to instructional materials both at school and at home, another measure used by the state to evaluate district performance.

Administrators reported continued progress implementing state academic standards. English language arts, English language development and mathematics remained at “full implementation,” while instructional materials for science and history-social science improved to that level. However, teacher professional development for Next Generation Science Standards and history-social science declined from “full implementation” to “initial implementation.” The report said the decline reflected a training gap rather than a shortage of curriculum materials and identified additional professional development and instructional coaching as priorities.

Parent survey results were mixed. The district reported stronger communication with families and increased parent involvement at the middle and high school levels. However, only 24% of parents said their input was actively sought, and 27% said they felt strongly encouraged to participate at their schools. The report also identified declining parent engagement at elementary schools and particularly low participation at the middle school level, where only 12% of parents reported feeling welcome to participate in school activities.

Results from the California Healthy Kids Survey also varied by grade level. Among fifth-grade students, cyberbullying increased from 18% to 30%, and students reporting they had been hit or pushed rose from 31% to 38%, despite gains in respect, relationships with caring adults and overall wellness. Seventh-grade students reported substantial improvements, with school safety increasing from 45% to 67% and chronic sadness and hopelessness dropping from 35% to 17%. At the high school level, Grade 11 students’ perception of school safety declined from 71% to 60%, although meaningful participation in school increased from 16% to 27%.

The district plans to strengthen multilingual communication, expand opportunities for parent participation and increase professional development in science and history-social science as part of its continuous improvement process and development of the next Local Control and Accountability Plan.