August 26, 2026 Board of Education Meeting

What Happened

At the August 26 WCCUSD Board of Education meeting, GO Public Schools’ Literacy Community-Led Committee(CLC) continued our public advocacy for stronger literacy outcomes, transparent use of student data, and meaningful family engagement.

I joined GO Public Schools East Bay Managing Director, Mark Heringer, in public comment to reinforce both our commitment to partnering with WCCUSD and our expectation that literacy remain a visible and ongoing priority for district leadership in spite of staff transitions and planned budget cuts.

I focused on the importance of families being full partners in the implementation of WCCUSD’s Reading Difficulties Risk Screener Plan. Families need more than assessment results. They need to understand:

• What did my child’s assessment show?
• What does it mean?
• What will the teacher do in response?
• What can we do at home?
• How will we know whether my child is progressing?

Mark focused on accountability and the specific commitments in the district’s implementation plan, including assessing K–2 students three times each year and sharing results with families and the public following each assessment window.

Why It Matters

Assessment data is only useful if it leads to action.

The Reading Difficulties Risk Screener can help identify students who need additional support, but successful implementation requires strong and collective follow-through from district leadership, educators, and families.

For the CLC, that means ensuring data is used to improve targeted instruction, families receive clear and accessible information, and the Board regularly reviews whether students are actually making progress.

This work is not simply about completing assessments. It is about creating a strong system of assessment → communication → instruction → support → progress.

What We’re Prioritizing 

As the 2026–27 school year continues, the CLC will stay focused on three priorities:

Literacy data regularly discussed at Board meetings.
We want the Board and Superintendent to consistently review student outcome data and ask: Where are students now? Are they improving? Where are the disparities? What is being done in response?

Strong implementation of the Reading Difficulties Risk Screener Plan.
We will continue tracking whether students are assessed as promised, whether results are communicated on time, and whether schools are using those results to provide responsive instruction and targeted support.

Improved family communication.
Families should receive timely, multilingual, and actionable information about their child’s results and have meaningful opportunities to follow up with teachers and other school staff before, during, and/or after annual teacher parent conferences.  

What’s Next

The CLC will continue showing up, asking questions, reviewing data, and actively inviting and listening to families in partnership with WCCUSD throughout the year.

We will also continue creating opportunities for families and community members to build their knowledge and leadership through the GO Public Schools’ Community-Led Committee, Sound to Meaning program, and Family Leaders Program.

Our goal remains clear: every WCCUSD student should have the opportunity to become a strong, confident reader, and every family should have the information and support they need to help make that possible.