Huntington Beach Union High School District — Policy Analysis 2026
Grand Total
62 / 106
58.5%
Base Score
53 / 96
Extra Credit
9 / 10
Score by Section
| Section | Score | Max | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Culturally Responsive Training | 3 | 8 | Notes |
| Clear & Consistent Policies | 4 | 8 | Notes |
| Restorative Justice Practices | 1 | 8 | Notes |
| Bias Awareness & Mitigation | 4 | 8 | Notes |
| Culturally Relevant Curriculum | 5 | 8 | Notes |
| Community Engagement & Collaboration | 8 | 8 | Notes |
| Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion | 3 | 8 | Notes |
| Mental Health & Trauma-Informed Practices | 7 | 8 | Notes |
| Data Collection & Analysis | 4 | 8 | Notes |
| Student Voice & Leadership | 2 | 8 | Notes |
| Equitable Access to Support Services | 7 | 8 | Notes |
| Continuous Evaluation & Improvement | 5 | 8 | Notes |
| Extra Credit | 9 | 10 | Notes |
Suggestions to Improve the Score
Every item below its maximum, worst gap first, with the reviewer's own notes as the rationale.
Show suggestions (33)
- 1.2 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Mentorship programs for culturally diverse staff — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found of a mentorship program specifically targeted at culturally diverse staff; the district's New Teacher Induction Program pairs all new teachers with coaches but is not diversity-specific.
- 2.3 [Clear & Consistent Policies]: Staff training on consistent application — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found describing staff training specifically on consistent application of the discipline code.
- 3.2 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Staff training in restorative practices — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found confirming district-wide staff training in restorative practices, beyond a one-time incident response involving outside agencies.
- 3.3 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Curriculum integrates conflict-resolution skills — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found showing conflict-resolution skills are formally integrated into HBUHSD curriculum.
- 3.4 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Peer mediation program — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found of an HBUHSD peer mediation program at the district or site level.
- 4.3 [Bias Awareness & Mitigation]: Cultural competence checks in hiring — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found of cultural-competence checks incorporated into HBUHSD's hiring process.
- 7.4 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Participation in equity-focused conferences — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found regarding staff participation in equity-focused external conferences.
- 9.2 [Data Collection & Analysis]: Regular audits of discipline practices — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found of regular internal audits of discipline practices beyond standard state dashboard reporting.
- 10.3 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Students facilitate restorative processes — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found of students facilitating restorative processes at HBUHSD.
- 10.4 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Student-led peer education — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found of a student-led peer education program at HBUHSD.
- 12.1 [Continuous Evaluation & Improvement]: Standing committee/task force for discipline equity — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found of a standing committee or task force specifically dedicated to discipline equity at HBUHSD.
- 1.1 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Mandatory cultural competency training for all staff — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The LCAP references "expanding training and resources for staff and students related to diversity, inclusion, and equity," but there is no public documentation confirming this training is mandatory for all staff district-wide.
- 1.3 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Culturally relevant PD resources in staff learning — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The LCAP states the district is "expanding training and resources for staff and students related to diversity, inclusion, and equity," indicating some culturally relevant PD resources exist, though scope/frequency is unclear.
- 1.4 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Regular feedback/measurement on training effectiveness — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The LCAP annual update cites a staff survey item on whether "the district provides useful professional development opportunities for all employees" (78.1% favorable), showing general PD feedback measurement, but not specific to cultural-competency training effectiveness.
- 2.2 [Clear & Consistent Policies]: Regular policy reviews/updates — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Board Policy 5144 shows a specific adoption date, and the district maintains a policy manual portal, suggesting policies are periodically updated, but no explicit regular-review cycle/schedule was found publicly documented.
- 2.4 [Clear & Consistent Policies]: Centralized documentation of incidents/outcomes — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The district reports suspension-rate data via the CA Dashboard/LCAP (state-mandated CALPADS reporting), indicating some centralized tracking of discipline outcomes, but no dedicated district incident-documentation system was confirmed.
- 3.1 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Restorative circles/conferences to repair harm — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). In a 2019 incident, HBUHSD's Marina High School engaged in restorative circles with a partner district to repair harm, showing some use of the practice, but there is no evidence this is a routine, district-wide restorative-circle program.
- 4.1 [Bias Awareness & Mitigation]: Implicit bias training for staff — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The LCAP references "expanding training and resources for staff and students related to diversity, inclusion, and equity," which may include implicit bias content, but no dedicated implicit-bias training was specifically documented.
- 4.2 [Bias Awareness & Mitigation]: Processes to review discipline data for disparities — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The district's LCAP tracks suspension rate on the CA Dashboard, noting it "outperforms the State in every indicator... and Suspension Rate," showing some data review, but no dedicated disparity-analysis process was confirmed.
- 5.1 [Culturally Relevant Curriculum]: Curriculum materials reflect student backgrounds — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The district's ethnic studies elective and tutoring services with Spanish- and Vietnamese-speaking tutors indicate some effort to reflect diverse student backgrounds, though a comprehensive curriculum audit was not found.
- 5.2 [Culturally Relevant Curriculum]: Teacher PD on integrating diverse perspectives — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The LCAP references expanded training and resources for staff related to diversity, inclusion, and equity, suggesting some PD on integrating diverse perspectives, though not confirmed as comprehensive or mandatory.
- 5.3 [Culturally Relevant Curriculum]: Community collaboration for supplemental resources — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The ethnic studies course was developed after a community group, Education Organizers for Racial Equality, made up of alumni, students, teachers, and parents, presented a proposal to the Board, and the resulting committee included a student representative, showing some community collaboration on curriculum.
- 7.1 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Ongoing anti-bias/equity training — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The LCAP references expanding training and resources for staff related to diversity, inclusion, and equity, but ongoing/mandatory anti-bias training specifically was not independently confirmed.
- 7.2 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Workshops on culturally responsive teaching — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). General diversity/equity training resources are referenced in the LCAP, but no dedicated "culturally responsive teaching" workshop series was documented.
- 7.3 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Equity topics in staff meetings/PD — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The LCAP annual update tracks a staff-favorability metric on professional development generally, suggesting PD occurs regularly, but equity-specific staff-meeting content was not separately confirmed.
- 8.3 [Mental Health & Trauma-Informed Practices]: Trauma-informed staff training — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The WellSpace is described as trauma-informed and the district participates in California's CYBHI initiative (which includes trauma-informed training for educators statewide), but explicit district-mandated trauma-informed staff training was not directly confirmed.
- 9.1 [Data Collection & Analysis]: Disaggregated discipline data system — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Discipline (suspension) data is tracked and disaggregated via the state-mandated CA School Dashboard/CALPADS system referenced in the LCAP, but no distinct district-built disaggregated discipline data system was documented.
- 9.3 [Data Collection & Analysis]: Data-informed interventions/adjustments — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The LCAP annual update process analyzes whether goal actions were implemented as planned and adjusts plans accordingly (e.g., noting modifications to Action 1.3 implementation), showing a data-informed adjustment cycle at the LCAP level, though not discipline-specific.
- 10.1 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Student advisory councils/leadership groups — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Evidence of student representation exists on the Ethnic Studies Course Development Committee, but no broader district-wide standing student advisory council/leadership body was confirmed.
- 10.2 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Student feedback informs policy/procedures — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The LCAP notes it "is developed with input from families, students, staff, and community partners," and the ethnic studies committee included a student representative who helped shape curriculum, showing some student input into policy/procedure development.
- 11.4 [Equitable Access to Support Services]: Systems to remove access barriers — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Some barrier-removal measures exist, such as no-cost therapy via Hazel Health and multilingual tutoring access, but no comprehensive district-wide barrier-removal framework was documented.
- 12.4 [Continuous Evaluation & Improvement]: PD & reflective practice culture — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The New Teacher Induction Program pairs new teachers with coaches who meet weekly to "discuss immediate teaching needs, develop the candidate's cycles of inquiry, analyze student outcomes, and reflect on growth," reflecting a reflective-practice culture, though this is limited to new teachers rather than all staff.
- EC5 [Extra Credit]: Grassroots student/community advocacy (Education Organizers for Racial Equality) directly shaping district curriculum policy through a formal Ethnic Studies Course Development Committee. — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). A community coalition of "alumni, students, teachers, parents and other community members" successfully petitioned the Board and co-developed the curriculum, an example of responsive community-driven policy change.