Castro Valley Unified School District

We're hiring a full-time Teacher on Special Assignment whose entire job is coordinating support for our CV Scholars. This person will:

• Track each student's progress across all schools
• Coordinate with teachers, counselors, and families
• Ensure interventions are implemented with fidelity
• Provide case management and ongoing check-ins

Every teacher and administrator will receive training in:

• MTSS frameworks and intervention strategies
• Culturally responsive teaching practices
• Anti-bias and anti-racist education
• Restorative justice and discipline alternatives
• Effective family communication and partnership

• MTSS handbook (codified practices district-wide)
• Discipline matrix (standardized, bias-resistant responses)
• Pre-referral intervention toolkit
• Equity walkthrough observation tool
• Family communication tracking system
• Progress monitoring dashboards

This work is funded through a blend of:

• SigDis CIM Plan funding (Significant Disproportionality state grant)
• LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula)
• EEBG (Educator Effectiveness Block Grant)

For the first time, CVUSD will have a standardized Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) that works the same way at every school. This means:

Every student will have access to:

• Research-based interventions before being considered for Special Education
• Regular progress monitoring to see if interventions are working
• A documented system that tracks what supports have been tried and how students responded
• Clear criteria for when additional support is needed

What this prevents: Students being labeled with disabilities they don't have, simply because they weren't given the right academic or behavioral support first.

We heard clearly from Black/African American families that the current system doesn't work for them. They feel shut out, not listened to, and sometimes actively avoided. This plan changes that:

• Every teacher will be required to make at least 3 positive contacts per year with families of our 63 focal students ("CV Scholars")
• Families will choose how they want to be contacted (phone, text, email, in-person)
• We'll host parent education sessions that actually help families navigate our systems
• We're creating family-building events that celebrate cultural wealth instead of just talking about problems
• Parents will have input on what motivates and supports their students at home

The goal: Move from families feeling like they have to "battle" the school to families feeling like genuine partners in their child's education.

We're investing heavily in culturally responsive teaching practices. This isn't a checkbox—it's about ensuring our staff can:

• Recognize their own unconscious biases and how those affect discipline and instruction
• Build authentic relationships with students from different cultural backgrounds
• Use teaching methods that connect to students' lived experiences
• Create classrooms where every student feels they belong and are expected to succeed

Why this matters: When students feel seen, valued, and connected to their teachers and school, behavioral issues decrease and academic engagement increases. Many referrals to Special Ed happen not because of a disability, but because of cultural misunderstandings or low expectations.

Right now, when students misbehave, we suspend them. This means they miss instruction, fall further behind, and are more likely to be referred to Special Ed. Our new approach:

Restorative Justice & Alternative Discipline

• A district-wide discipline matrix that removes subjective decision-making (reduces bias)
• Restorative practices that help students repair harm and learn from mistakes
• A toolkit of interventions teachers can use before sending students to the office
• Training for all staff on alternatives to suspension

Target: Reduce suspensions of our focal students by 5% while actually improving school climate and safety.