Sacramento City schools change controversial student shuffle after state investigation

The Abridged version:

• Sacramento City Unified School District officials are changing how they adjust overenrolled schools after the state attorney general’s office found the district’s student shuffling process to be discriminatory.
• Under a new system, if class sizes exceed the district limit, a contingent of recently enrolled students will enter a randomized lottery. Those chosen will be transferred to a different school.
• The previous system started with the last student to enroll when reducing student headcount at the beginning of the school year. Certain students, like unhoused or foster youth, are exempt from the involuntary transfers.

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Sacramento City Unified School District officials are changing how they regulate enrollment and shuffle students from school to school, in the wake of an investigation by the California Attorney General’s Office.

A process known as contract capping, or “ConCapping,” occurs when all classes in a school reach the district’s permitted student-to-teacher ratio, a number negotiated between the district and the Sacramento City Teachers Association.

Any students over that cap get moved to a new campus with enough seats.

The involuntary reassignments were previously determined by registration date: last student in, first student transferred.

But after the attorney general found the old model to be discriminatory, often hitting marginalized students the hardest, the district will now use a lottery system to decide which students are displaced.

Sacramento City Unified officials are expected to present their reforms at a Thursday board meeting.

Attorney general investigates

The attorney general’s investigation, which was settled and announced in January, found cases of “arbitrary” calculations and unnecessary reassignments.

Overall, Black, socioeconomically disadvantaged or unhoused students faced forced transfers at a disproportionate rate, according to the report.

The settlement ordered a slew of corrective actions for the district, among them a community survey on the district’s system for transferring students to adjust class sizes and a working group to brainstorm a better model.

That working group, composed of 12 members, met four times between March and June, according to district spokesperson Al Goldberg. The last meeting on June 3 was a public forum.

A survey went out to families in May. Of the 499 respondents, 47 said their student was transferred after the start of the year. Eight of those reported experiencing the disruption more than once.

The student shuffling process affects just elementary grades because middle and high school leaders have more flexibility to adjust student schedules by moving class periods, Goldberg said.

Who will be in the lottery?

The new system will use a randomized lottery to decide which students get transferred from an overfilled school, according to the district.

But that lottery won’t suddenly include every registered student.

At the start of the fall semester, the pool will consist of kids who first enrolled at the school between the last day of the previous school year and the 10th day of the current school year.

If more enrollment shifts are needed beyond the first 15 days of school — for example, because of new students mid-year — that date range expands to early March through the current date.

Some students exempt

These narrow windows of eligibility could be stretched further back, according to district officials, if all the students who enrolled in that period of time are exempt.

A contingent of students is protected from the involuntary moves, including unhoused or foster youth, students previously transferred in this process or students with disabilities that require resources at a specific school site.

A student is also protected if their sibling is a fellow student at the school or their parent is an employee there.

Communication changes

The attorney general’s office, in its investigation, found the district’s communication during the shuffling process to be lacking.

Officials say they are fixing that with more regular notices to families.

Initial messages will alert parents and guardians if their child’s grade level is approaching its limit. At that point, district officials will request volunteers to transfer schools.

Ensuing emails will go out to families if their student is included in the lottery and again if that student was chosen to move schools.

Savannah Kuchar is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged by PBS KVIE team and contribute to a crucial local news source.