Sonoma Valley school test scores prompt equity concerns

White students led all other demographic groups in the Sonoma Valley Unified School district that were evaluated in a recent state report in meeting English language arts and math performance standards, raising equity concerns among trustees and community members at the Board of Trustees meeting last week.

“What the equity report really tells us is that as a district, we have a lot to do,” said Trustee Celeste Winders, referring to the 2022 California School Dashboard findings. “There are some massive disparities; it’s just glaring in our faces, when we look at the ELA (English language arts), in particular. Math, not so much. But with ELA, we have some pretty serious equity concerns.”

Winders spoke after Dawn Mawhinney, the district’s director of educational services, delivered a presentation to the board at the Jan. 12 meeting, in an update to her test score presentation last month.

The December presentation showed Sonoma Valley students who are Hispanic, socioeconomically disadvantaged, English learners, or who have disabilities ranked lower than white students in English and math on the dashboard.

The newly established California School Dashboard reports how districts and schools are performing using multiple state and local indicators. The results are used to identify strengths and weaknesses, and to help ensure that the needs of all students are highlighted.

The dashboard uses a point system that ranks districts on a five-point scale, ranging from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). None of the marginalized demographic groups at any school in Sonoma Valley Unified School District scored above a 2 (low) in English language arts or math.

Mawhinney’s presentation showed that in English language arts, the district’s white students rated 11.6 points above the standard (high). Hispanics were 57.2 points below the standard (low), followed by students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, 58.6 points below (low); English learners, 77.1 points below (very low); and those who have disabilities, 118.8 points below (very low).

The local ratings follow statewide trends, where white students rated 21.6 points above the standard (high), followed by Hispanics, 38.6 points below (low); socioeconomically disadvantaged students, 41.4 points below (low); English learners, 61.2 points below (low); and students with disabilities, 97.3 points below (very low).

“Our numbers aren’t quite as high as the state’s overall, but the trends in and of themselves are pretty well within the state’s,” Mawhinney said.

Winders noted that the white student demographic group is the only one that is above the English language arts standard.

“It goes from ‘high’ to ‘low’ and ‘very low,’ with nothing in between, and that’s deeply concerning from an equity perspective. And it tells me we’ve got a lot of work to do in really digging at the root causes of that issue and how we can address it. As a trustee and a parent, I consider it a massive crisis,” she said.

The math results were even more bleak — the district’s white students were 40.4 points below the standard (low), while the other four groups all rated very low: Hispanics, 110.3 points below; socioeconomically disadvantaged students, 113.4 points below; English learners, 125.2 points below; and students with disabilities, 163.5 points below.

Similar to the district, across the state white students were 13.4 points below the standard (medium) in math, followed by Hispanics, 83.4 points below (low), socioeconomically disadvantaged students, 84 points below (low); English learners, 92 points below (low); and students with disabilities, 130.8 points below (very low).

“Again, we’re a little below the state, which also has pretty low numbers,” Mawhinney said.

Laura Grygera, a Sonoma Valley parent of a student with a disability, voiced concerns during public comment.

“I have a child who will be leaving your high school at the end of the year, and this is what you’re looking at as he exits,” she said. “There’s a reason, apparently, why once they leave high school students with disabilities don’t have any standard or standing in this community. I personally didn’t raise a child to be the servant of everybody else in this town. We have quite a crisis with special education in the Sonoma Valley Unified School District, and I think it’s time we address it.”

Mawhinney’s presentation also covered the overall district ratings in English language arts and math. She previously attributed the decline in state and district achievement test scores largely to the impact of the pandemic and distance learning.

Sonoma Valley Unified School district’s rating in English language arts is 35.1 under the state standard (low), while the overall state rating is 12.2 points below (low). In math, SVUSD is 88.2 points below the state standard (low), while the overall state rating is 51.7 points below (low).

Gina Cuculis, who represents District 1 (Sonoma Valley) on the Sonoma County Board of Trustees, told Sonoma Valley Unified School District board members not to “feel so bad” about the dashboard ratings.

“You are not unique,” she said. “The issues with math and English arts are all over the county. You’re not an outlier in terms of the issues you are facing.”

Grygera countered, “I would have to solidly disagree with this. This is nothing to be calm about. I’m sorry, but for me as the parent of a child with a disability, you have a crisis on your hands.”

Winders, the mother of four district students — including two who are attending nonpublic schools due to their learning needs — shares Grygera’s concerns.

“There’s a huge difference (in the ratings) between us and the state,” she said, noting that the district’s math rating is 36.5 points lower than the state’s rating. “That’s pretty wide, and so I’m concerned about that.”

Trustee John Kelly says that in previous years, the district tried to find an “angle” on this type of data that would sit well with the public.

“There’s not really any way to do that with this data,” he said. “It’s very, very clear. It’s what we need to hear until we get really accurate reports from staff, which is what we’re getting here. What we have to face as a district is daunting because we have to keep up and then we have to catch up.”

Kelly said that despite the challenges, he is confident that the district can improve the situation.

“We can do it — I know we can,” he said. “The thing that gives me so much optimism is that we have incredible teachers and incredible staff, and they are just getting more effective as time goes on. And I think that we as a board want to do everything we can to support our teachers, because they’re the ones we’re trusting to do this.

“The optimistic take coming out of this is that I think the district really has the governance team focused on making sure our teachers have what they need to address what they’re seeing, too. That hasn’t always been the case.”

Mario Castillo, a former parent of students in the district, wants to see solutions.

“I like to think that Trustee Kelly is right, that this report is, in fact, honest and on target,” he said. “However, I want to see what solutions are proposed.”

Castillo encouraged board members to involve parents as they seek solutions.

“I want to acknowledge teachers for the amazing work that they do every day, but I also would like to give some credits to our parents,” he said. “You know, we are the primary educators of our children, but oftentimes, we are left out of the conversation.”

Reach the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.