Late last year, CSLX joined together with our friends at The Collective Agency to help 51 people from 36 local education agencies (LEA) complete and submit an application for the most recent round of the California Community Schools Partnership Program’s (CCSPP) Implementation Grants. As I’m willing to bet a lot of you know, applications were due on February 9th, 2024.

While securing funding to continue the LEA’s transformative Community School (CS) work was our primary goal, the series also created a space for school sites and districts to collectively learn, reflect and strategically strengthen elements of their CS initiative and CCSPP implementation plans.

Through the three-month initiative, which we dubbed the CCSPP Grant Cohort Series, we provided participants with training, resources, templates and other supports to guide them through submitting their application. Our goals?

1. Help LEAs secure funding to continue their school or district’s transformative community school (CS) work;

2. Create a space for participants to learn from each other’s work, and;

3. Help LEAs leverage the application process to lay a foundation for strong continued community school development.

Along the way, we learned a lot about the ways the CCSPP application process supported–and did not support–community school practitioners across the state. In this post, we’ll share some of our top learnings from the experience.

But before we do that, who attended CSLX x Collective Agency’s CCSPP Grant Cohort Series? Of the 36 total LEAs who participated,

• 36% of our participants were district-level directors and coordinators– CS, CS Partnerships, CS/Expanded Learning, Cradle to Career, Family Support Services, Student Services, Early Learning, Mental Health and CS Development, Engagement, Partnerships and Expanded Learning;

• 27.2% were CS Coordinators;

• 12% were site-level staff–Student Enrichment and Wellness Program Specialists, Wellness Program Managers, Parent Liaisons, or Teachers; and,

• 9% were grant-writing district partners.

Now, on to those learnings.

Reflection #1: The application’s “order of work” put the cart before the horse

The CCSPP implementation grant application provided a strong opportunity for applicants to develop some foundational elements of strong community school development. The participants in our Grant Cohort Series took this opportunity and ran with it. They engaged interest holders to help develop a strategy for their CS work – and not just for how to use the CCSPP funding, but for how the CCSPP funding would fit in with a larger vision for their LEAs and schools. They developed budgets that aligned resources to goals and activities and conducted or enhanced needs assessment and asset mapping processes that painted pictures of student and family/caregiver experiences. And they put together roadmaps for continued CS development.

At the same time, there were areas of misalignment between what the Request for Proposals (RFA) required and what we know to be best practices. Applicants were asked to provide evidence of needs assessments and asset mapping, establishment of a shared-decision making governance body, and alignment to the CCSPP Framework. Each of these requirements support meaningful community involvement, careful analysis of information about needs and community assets, and thoughtful and thorough planning in general.

But this is also work that should be done with deep involvement from interest holders, and the CCSPP application process did not allow adequate time for doing so. Applicants were asked, in effect, to show work that they had not already been tasked with doing, and without the time to engage as many interest holders as is recommended.

Reflection #2: The complexity of the Cohort 3 application underserved over-taxed rural districts

The first Implementation Grant RFA (Round 1) went a long way in maximizing accessibility for under-resourced and overtaxed districts and LEAs by minimizing the complexity of what applicants were required to submit – reducing or eliminating the need to hire outside grant writers –and relying more on data that the state could gather and analyze itself.

But the Cohort 3 application had requirements and a level of complexity that made it difficult for small LEAs who do not have the staff or resources to bring on professional grant writers, to manage the process, complete an application, and ultimately access CCSPP funding.

As such, in spite of the California Department of Education's (CDE) best intentions, the application process was particularly onerous for smaller districts, raising the question of equity and accessibility of CCSPP funds for smaller LEAs (often serving rural communities).

Fifty-three percent of our CCSPP Grant Cohort Series participants represented small and rural districts. This is no coincidence. And while we’re proud to have offered smaller, rural districts supports that helped level the playing field for these LEAs, we still recognize that the LEAs we served make up a very small group, compared to the number of small and rural LEAs that would have benefited from a more streamlined and accessible application process.

As an attempt to respond to this, CSLX worked with Collective Agency to secure support that enabled four rural LEAs to work with grant writers from Collective Agency to put their applications together. Ultimately, the LEAs that participated in this group applied for seven grants, totalling $28.347 million – but that was only four LEAs. Imagine what might have been possible for rural LEAs had the application been more streamlined and better able to be written without necessitating the help of grant writers!

In May, we’ll find out how many LEAs are awarded CCSPP Cohort 3 grants. Between now and then, take our top tips on what you can do to keep your community school work rolling along.

• Keep people in the loop. Let your school community know that the application has been submitted, share highlights of the different components and a timeline for hearing about funding.

• Convene new interest holders. Check your data, continue to engage new voices in your work.

• Thank the people who helped develop the application, ranging from your grant writer (if you worked with one) and the budget department to your school leadership teams and parents, youth and partners.

• Look at your SPSA and LCAP to ensure that the elements you outlined in your CCSPP application aligns with both plans (want ideas on how to do that? See our blog post on how you can align your LCAP, SPSA and CS plans).

• Take a deep breath. Know that you set up a good foundation for continued community school development, even if the CCSPP funding doesn’t come through.

by Melissa Mitchell

Melissa Mitchell is Director of Resource Development at the Community Schools Learning Exchange (CSLX). She brings over 15 years of experience supporting community school development, from providing coaching and direct technical assistance to schools, districts, practitioners and community partners, to working with legislators and policymakers to develop supportive-state level policies that advanced community school development across Illinois. Get in touch with Melissa via email at melissa@cslx.org.