A settlement between two students in the Bakersfield City School District and the California Department of Education over a lawsuit challenging the District’s cancellation of summer school in 2019.

The students had alleged that BCSD’s summer school cancellation violated the Local Control Funding Formula/Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCFF/LCAP)—California’s school funding framework—because the District made its summer school decision without seeking required input from parents or other stakeholders and without accounting for $1.6 million in restricted funding that was originally earmarked for summer school.

In the settlement, the District agreed to solicit required stakeholder input before it makes substantial changes to its LCAP in the future. Also, the District committed to greater transparency in the LCFF/LCAP information it shares with parents and other stakeholder groups, including posting additional LCFF/LCAP information on the District’s website.

The District agreed to provide all LCAP information in both English and Spanish and to have a trained Spanish language interpreter at all public Board meetings related to the LCAP. The District has also committed to using state funding intended to benefit low-income, English language learners, and foster students to increase or improve educational services for those students.

The settlement brings to a close the lawsuit that California Rural Legal Assistance Inc., Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights filed in April 2019 on behalf of both plaintiffs, who are students in Bakersfield City School District.