The Schools & Neighborhoods Action Team or SNAT was formed originally to advocate around the passage of significant policy, on the state’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) which dictated how funds specifically for low-income, English language learner, foster and homeless youth, justice impacted youth, and special education students is spent. In our district, there is a Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) which is supposed to define how the district will close education equity disparities in academic performance and socio-emotional needs. The LCAP is just one component of the work in West Contra Costa Unified (WCCUSD) when it comes to creating health equity in schools. 

In the late summer and fall of 2017, WCCUSD also engaged in community discussions with a host of parents, students, teachers, and advocates about Positive School Climate. These discussions, which began initially about willful defiance suspensions, evolved into a larger discussion about student rights, health and restorative justice, and the role of police and other security measures on campus. In Fall, the WCCUSD board passed a sweeping resolution for positive climate policies dealing with a range of issues, with significant advocacy from SNAT and the community at large. 

In our monthly (SNAT) Schools and Neighborhood Action Team space we are discussing with our SNAT collective and building a Cross-sector Policy Advocacy Campaign that focuses on; Resident Power-building and Systems Building. With the district, we are a part of the Community Schools Grant process and rollout, as well as, we will be working with the district to move the Positive School Climate resolution’s practices from West county to all county wide school sites within time. Starting in 2024, SNAT will focus on relaunching and building a base of Newly Refreshed Resident Leaders, who want to join spaces like; LCAP, CSG, or PSR to be a part of Advocacy, narrative change and planning. HCC will be working with our SNAT collective to identify which of our partnered CBO’s can support the on-going education and training of NEW Resident Leaders.