New beginning marked by vision and hope

The week ahead marks one of my favorite times of the year as most of Kern’s nearly 240,000 public school students return to the classroom after a much-needed summer holiday. After more than two years of disruption due to the pandemic, the first day of school signifies a new beginning filled with optimism. We have learned much throughout this adversity and have emerged a stronger, more cohesive, and better performing education community.

I am proud of the tenacity, can-do attitude, and collaborative spirit of Kern’s 46 school districts, institutes of higher learning, industry partners, and the 240,000 children and families we serve. Our rise to the challenge of adapting to new technologies, extending learning opportunities, and advancing curriculum inspires me.

The pandemic has been a good reminder of the pivotal role schools serve in our community. For 180plus days each year, schools function as a community hub where children are cared for from early morning until late evening. Parents and caregivers can head to work knowing their children’s needs are being met with education, safety, hot and healthy meals, social and emotional support services, and physical health services. We know that when children are healthy, feel safe, and cared for, they are better prepared to learn. In this spirit, California has made significant financial investments to ensure our children’s needs are met.

Beginning this year, all students will be offered breakfast and lunch at school — as well as dinner in some cases — with no eligibility requirements. Furthermore, the state has allocated significant resources so our schools can expand afterschool and summer enrichment programming. Due to new funding for the extended learning opportunity program, schools will be open later and for more days. Students have more access to enriching experiences and extra learning supports, tutors and instruction. Kern’s schools received over $65 million in grants to build “Community School” services. These services will focus on increasing parent engagement in the decision-making regarding policy and support services to better integrate academics, health and social services, as well as youth and community development.

Universal Transitional Kindergarten is now an option for all 4-year-olds. UTK will be phased in over time, with full implementation by the 2025-26 school year. UTK will provide our youngest learners with a solid educational foundation and better accommodate Kern’s many working families with a safe, nurturing environment for their children during the workday.

For Kern’s older students, improving access to early college, dual enrollment and traditional higher education remains a priority. An $18.1 million state grant recently awarded to the Kern Regional K16 Education Collaborative provides funding that will focus on addressing long-standing equity challenges in higher education and workforce participation, while helping to build a college-going culture for first-generation college students, those from low-income families and students of color. Pathways in three occupational areas — education, healthcare, and engineering/computing — will be streamlined. These career pathways were highlighted by local employers as growing fields for good paying jobs with a lack of qualified local candidates.

In 2017 my office launched the Kern Education Pledge, and the Kern Regional K16 Education Collaborative is just one part of that countywide initiative. The Pledge is an agreement between Kern County’s 46 school districts, colleges and universities, and numerous industry partners to work together as one system to ensure student success as they proceed from cradle to career. We recognize that Kern County will not be able to achieve inclusive growth or decrease the number of struggling families without improving educational outcomes and educational attainment through early college, dual enrollment, accelerated programs, certification programs, apprenticeships and traditional higher education.

In addition to the efforts around college and career readiness and postsecondary enrollment and completion, additional work groups are helping build the foundation of student success by focusing on kindergarten readiness, improving literacy and mathematics proficiency, and tackling school culture issues that may affect student attendance and participation.

Kern districts have collaboratively designed professional development and increased the number of teacher training days. Districts have expanded career pathways and workforce development programs with $67 million in investments toward new staff, facilities, technology and equipment. Last year, Kern reported an over 8.7 percent increase in students who met UC/CSU requirements, exceeding the state average in college and career readiness. Dual enrollment is now offered in most high schools and participation has expanded over 600 percent since 2017, translating to high school graduates having also completed college courses that reduces their higher education costs.

The cornerstone of our work in the Pledge is real-time data gathering and sharing. That’s why all Pledge partners have made a formal commitment to be part of the Kern Integrated Data System, a secure and powerful student data warehouse. The system gives educators instant access to data to help inform instructional practices and implement targeted intervention strategies. KiDS also helps illuminate bright spots that can be further investigated and replicated.

All of this progress is a result of the hard work and collaborative spirit of Kern County. As refreshed students and staff return with excitement to their classrooms and school sites, please join us as we all embark on a new academic year filled with vision and hope.