Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District

Enrollment and Staffing, as of September 4, 2018

Summary Report

Background
Each year, our District projects enrollment and staffing for each school by using the prior year’s enrollment
figures, historical attrition, new enrollment rates, new housing starts, actual attendance at the Transitional
Kindergarten/Kindergarten enrollment fair in the Spring, and requests for transfer. Staffing is later adjusted
to accommodate any enrollment changes during the first two weeks of school. Though there was a
significant number of families who moved in and out of Livermore during the summer months, enrollment
has been stable and the number of students actually attending is nearly identical to projected enrollment.

The charts below show the changes in enrollment at each grade level over the past two years. The “cohort
change” indicates the change in enrollment for the same group of students from year to year. For example,
there were 1,034 Kindergarten students last year and there are 1,042 first grade students this year. That
creates a cohort increase of 8 students. Cohort changes are typically the result of increases or decreases
in population in a community or the movement of students from private or charter school to our District
schools. In this case, nearly all our grade level cohorts are very stable. The only substantial change was at
ninth grade, which is common as the District has an influx of students who attend private schools through
eighth grade. The additional homes that have been built in the City in the past twelve months have not yet
created a significant enrollment increase. We will continue to monitor these and additional developments.

Student Enrollment by Grade Level

The chart below shows the enrollment totals at each District grade level over the past two years.

2017-2018 2018-2019 Cohort Change

Transitional K 229 242
K 1,034 980
1 982 1042 +8
2 999 990 +8
3 934 979 -20
4 995 956 +22
5 1,026 992 -3
TK-5 6,199 6,181

6 1,095 1,039 +13

7 998 1,107 +12
8 995 996 -2
6-8 3,088 3,142

9 1,128 1,039 +44

10 1,110 1,116 -12
11 1,099 1,124 +14
12 1,100 1,132 +33
9-12 4,437 4,411

TOTAL: 13,724* 13,734*

*Our District also has a Pre-K program at Croce and Transition program at Granada, bringing total
enrollment to 13,850. There are also approximately 236 Adult Education students, which are not included in
totals.
Analysis: The stability in enrollment at each grade level was consistent with the forecasts made last Spring.
We are seeing larger student cohorts at the high school level than at the lower grade levels, which could
ultimately result in slight decreases in student enrollment in high school for the next several years as the
larger high school classes are replaced by slightly smaller incoming classes. Additional growth in the City,
though it has been slow in nature, could result in increases in enrollment in District schools. Our District will
need to be particularly mindful of any City plans that include growth in the northwestern part of town, such
as the Isabel Area Plan.

Enrollment Numbers by School

Day 10 Enrollment Day 10 Enrollment Change from year to

2017-2018 2018-2019 year
Altamont 585 583 -2
Arroyo Seco 665 681 +16
Croce 607 608 +1
Jackson 555 530 -25
Lawrence 321 358 +37
Marylin 404 384 -20
Michell 797 819 +22
Junction 883 922 +39
Rancho 604 597 -7
Smith 737 693 -44
Sunset 777 780 +3
Christensen 716 715 -1
East Avenue 644 652 +8
Mendenhall 981 968 -13
Granada 2,256 2,293 +37
Livermore 1,952 1,909 -43
Del Valle 111 114 +3
Vineyard 129 128 -1

Total 13,724 13,734 +10

Analysis: Enrollment in the current school year is, overall, nearly identical to that of the 2017-2018 school
year. In fact, enrollment in Livermore District schools, aside from the significant increase due to the closing
of the two charter schools over a year ago, has been remarkably stable over the past five years.

Joe Michell K-8 has fully expanded its program to meet our projected enrollment target, and growth at
Smith, Sunset, and Mendenhall have been closely monitored to avoid expansion beyond what the current
facilities can comfortably house. Lawrence, which opened last year, is expected to grow at a rate of
approximately 30 students per year until it reaches a total of 550. The high schools are likely to remain
stable or see a slight decline over the next few year.

Our District prides itself on its open enrollment policy and the ability for parents to choose schools that are
the best fit for their student’s needs. Though our District has many students who make use of this
opportunity and choose to transfer between schools, we’ve recently had to limit some of the transfer
approvals to ensure that there is room in schools for students who live within the school boundary areas.
This is primarily an area of focus at the elementary schools. Overall, approximately 85% of Livermore
students choose to attend their assigned neighborhood schools, and it remains a priority to ensure that is
always an option.

Class Size

Through strategic budget decisions, revenues from the Parcel Tax, and a healthier State budget, the
Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District has continued to maintain small class sizes. Keeping class
sizes low has been a District priority for many years and will continue to be a priority.

Below is information that details class size averages, by school and District-wide, for the grade span of
Transitional Kindergarten (TK) through fifth grade.

Class Size Average for Grades TK-5

2018-2019 2017-2018 2018-2019 2017-2018

TK-3 AVG TK-3 AVG 4-5 AVG 4-5 AVG
Altamont 24.6 24.7 25.3 28.1
Arroyo Seco 24.6 24.3 28.7 30.4
Croce 24.3 24.1 26.3 24.6
Jackson 22.6 22.9 26.0 27.0
Junction 21.2 21.5 19.8 21.5
Lawrence 24.7 23.6 26.0 22.0
Marylin 18.0 21.0 19.3 19.3
Michell 25.7 24.6 29.6 30.6
Rancho 24.2 24.8 24.8 28.8
Smith 23.9 25.7 28.6 28.2
Sunset 24.1 23.9 31.7 31.5

Transitional Kindergarten – 3rd Grade

Percentage of overall
Students per classroom Number of classrooms
classes
22 students or fewer 38 classrooms 22%
23, 24, or 25 students 89 classrooms 51%
26 students (class size max) 47 classrooms 27%

4th and 5th grade

Percentage of overall
Students per classroom Number of classrooms
classes
28 students or fewer 43 classrooms 60%
29-31 students 19 classrooms 27%
32 students (class size max) 9 classrooms 13%
Analysis: Class sizes at the TK-3 grade levels, which are often considered to be the most critical grades,
continue to meet target goals of averaging 25 or fewer. 73% of the students attending classes in LVJUSD
at the elementary primary grades are in classrooms with 25 students or fewer, which is a figure that is
consistent with that of 2017-2018. A priority for the 2019-2020 school year will be to limit the number of
classrooms that are at the maximum of 26, while at the same time ensuring that families are able to send
their children to their neighborhood school. Class sizes at the fourth and fifth grade levels are averaging
well below the target of 30, with the majority of students in classes of 28 or fewer. Very few fourth or fifth
grade classrooms are at the maximum class size of 32.

The majority of middle and high school classrooms have 30 students or fewer, with a focus this year on
creating even smaller class sizes in mathematics.

Staffing
The chart below details the staffing levels for each of the past two years. The numbers indicate the number
of positions, rather than the number of people. Some employees work part-time, so the number of people
employed in the District will exceed the number of positions. The total number of employees in the District
is nearly 1,500.

Certificated Staff 2018-2019 2017-2018

General Education Teachers 564 558

Special Education Teachers 97 95
Other Services (Nurses, Speech pathologists,
61 55
counselors, psychs, TOSAs)
Management 41 38

Total 763 746

Classified Staff

CSEA 328 302

SEIU 106 111
Confidentials/Supervisors 35 35
Management 10 9

Total 479 457

Total Certificated and Classified 1,242 1,203

Analysis: District staffing levels remain consistent, with the exception of the additional support personnel in
elementary schools (instructional aides), special educational classrooms (registered behavior technicians
and paraprofessionals), and in student support positions (counselors and high school vice principals). Also,
in our high schools, additional teachers were necessary to ensure the success of our prized programs such
as the Green Engineering Academy and International Baccalaureate. In order to support an increased
focus on math instruction, two math coaches were added to the two already in place.

Staffing levels are based upon Board approved ratios and are augmented with additional funds that come
from grants, the Parcel Tax, and other types of community support.
Summary: The past two years have provided some challenges that necessitated quick responses by site
personnel and the Human Resources Department. The addition of over a thousand new students was
accomplished in a way in which student needs were the highest priority. The full roll out of Measure J Bond
projects has also resulted in additional staffing to ensure that construction projects stay on track.

As has been the case for several years, our District, a designated Bay Area Top Workplace, has proven to
be an attractive place of employment for teachers, administrators, and all other job classifications, which
has resulted in large candidate pools for nearly all open positions. The ability to select from many qualified
candidates has resulted in highly qualified and highly motivated employees at all our school sites.
Enrollment and staffing are stable, which allows personnel to focus their energy on improving student
achievement.