Natomas Unified School District Packet Summary — 2026-08-19
Meeting: 08/19/2026 - 05:15 PM Regular Board Meeting Board Meeting
Natomas Unified School District’s August 19 agenda combines several significant action items with reports on special education, school safety, family services, enrollment and the start of the 2026–2027 school year. The Board is scheduled to consider bond-fund reallocations, a three-year fuel provider, a large set of policy revisions and several contracts, while receiving an independent review of the district’s special education system.
Key Items on the Agenda
Independent Special Education Program Review
The Board is scheduled to receive findings and recommendations from an independent review conducted by Ascendancy Solutions, Inc. during the 2025–2026 school year. The review examined special education infrastructure and program design alongside the broader district systems that affect students with disabilities.
The review identifies several areas of concern, including:
- Significant disproportionality involving African American/Black students in special education under emotional-disability eligibility and in out-of-school suspensions exceeding 10 days.
- Achievement and performance gaps for students receiving special education services.
- Inconsistent implementation and documentation of MTSS, Student Study Team, Section 504, PBIS and discipline processes across schools.
- Insufficient Tier 1 and Tier 2 general-education supports, which the review says can contribute to special education becoming a default avenue for academic or behavioral support.
- A need for more opportunities for students with moderate to severe disabilities to receive instruction in less restrictive environments.
- Parent feedback describing inconsistent family-engagement processes and difficulty navigating district systems.
- Staff concerns about communication and coordination between special education, general education, school sites and district departments.
The consultants recommend a more unified districtwide system connecting general and special education. Recommendations include strengthening MTSS and PBIS, improving Section 504 and Student Study Team processes, expanding family engagement, increasing professional development, addressing discipline disproportionality and establishing stronger systems for monitoring implementation and accountability.
The review also recommends modifying the district’s Continuous Improvement Monitoring plan for significant disproportionality, conducting additional listening sessions with African American/Black parents and students, and developing an implementation action plan with ongoing progress monitoring.
Bond Funds Could Be Reallocated
Staff recommends approving what it anticipates will be the final reallocation of remaining Measure J and Measure L bond funds. The purpose is to redirect available resources as projects finish under budget or project timelines and needs change.
The accompanying financial reports show proposed adjustments among remaining projects. For Measure L, the Heredia-Arriaga Expansion allocation would increase to approximately $4.23 million, while the report shows a total proposed allocation of about $4.83 million among the listed open projects and bond expenses. Measure J’s listed open projects include project management, capital-project reporting, the Heredia-Arriaga Expansion and the Natomas High School pool upgrade.
Major Financial and Contract Items
Three-Year Fuel Provider
The Board is scheduled to consider selecting eFuel LLC, doing business as Ramos Oil Company, as the district’s fuel provider for 2026–2029. The district issued a request for proposals on June 8, 2026, and received three timely and complete proposals.
The proposed spending limits are:
- 2026–2027: $466,000
- 2027–2028: $480,180
- 2028–2029: $494,585
The agreement would provide fuel for district vehicles, including school buses and the district’s white fleet. Staff says using one provider is intended to simplify purchasing and avoid changes among multiple fuel vendors during the year.
Purchasing and Service Agreements
The consent agenda includes several purchasing and service agreements supporting special education staffing, transportation, fire-suppression inspections and facilities work.
Notable proposed expenditures include:
- CareStaff Partners: Up to $135,000 for coverage of special education teacher and related-service vacancies during 2026–2027.
- Houston Fire Systems: $141,710.55 for fire-suppression and five-year sprinkler inspections, with a term from July 1 through September 30, 2026.
- Charter bus transportation: A pool of prequalified companies with a combined spending limit of $900,000 for 2026–2027 and $927,000 for 2027–2028.
- Johnson Controls: An increase in an HVAC repair purchase order from $100,000 to $118,000.
The Board is also scheduled to consider the district’s quarterly update to its prequalified construction bidder list.
Policy and Governance
Large Policy Update Returns for Second Reading
A broad update to Board Policies, Administrative Regulations and Board Bylaws returns for a second reading and proposed approval. The Board previously reviewed the revisions during a July 22 study session, when no action was taken.
The proposed revisions span district governance and operations, including nondiscrimination, charter schools, technology, comprehensive safety planning, websites and social media, complaint procedures, campus security, employment practices, student attendance, discipline, health and safety, sexual harassment, parent involvement, instruction, facilities and Board meeting procedures.
As part of the item, Trustees are also asked to approve Resolution No. 26-29 associated with the district’s Conflict of Interest exhibit.
Attendance and Expulsion Panels
The consent agenda asks the Board to approve:
- School Attendance Review Board panel members for the 2026–2027 school year.
- Administrative Expulsion Hearing Panel members for 2026–2027.
The packet describes these as annual appointments intended to satisfy applicable Education Code requirements.
School Safety and Student Support
Safety and Safe Schools Update
The Board will receive a report covering Safety and Safe Schools operations and data through the 2025–2026 school year and planned work for 2026–2027. No Board action is requested.
The report states that the district’s Say Something Anonymous Reporting System received 29 tips during 2025–2026, while 97 behavior threat assessments were reported. The district’s Safety Line recorded 738 calls, and the report lists 125 law-enforcement calls for service from January through July 2026.
Three School Safety Officers joined the department beginning in January 2026. Their logs recorded 1,181 support entries, with about 90% categorized as proactive prevention work.
For 2026–2027, planned priorities include full implementation of the Raptor visitor-management system, continued development of the BUILD behavior and social-emotional framework, increased student connections with safety staff, restorative re-entry and case-management supports, improved communications and continued emergency-response and family-reunification training.
Family Liaison for Special Student Populations
The Board will receive the first annual update on the Family Liaison for Special Student Populations position created in 2025. The position is intended to help families navigate areas including special education and Section 504 while connecting them with district resources.
During its first year, the liaison received 204 contacts and made another 189 proactive contacts to families of students receiving special education services who were new to Natomas Unified. The report also describes family training, school-site coordination and efforts to develop connections with postsecondary programs.
Constituent and Customer Services
A separate informational report covers Constituent and Customer Services activity from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.
For January through June, the report identifies 885 requests for information, with school leadership accounting for the largest category. The district’s after-hours VoiceNation service handled 1,010 calls during 2025–2026, down from 1,224 the prior year. CCS also reports conducting more than 85 multi-department school-site visits during the year with Maintenance & Operations and IT.
Welcome Center
The Board will receive an update on the NUSD Welcome Center covering July 2025 through June 2026. The center, launched in July 2024, brings together services involving health, enrollment, attendance, homeless and foster youth resources, translation, IT, transportation and nutrition.
No action is requested on the Welcome Center, CCS, Family Liaison or Safety and Safe Schools reports.
Programs and the Start of School
Start of Schools — Part II
The Board will receive the second Start of Schools presentation for 2026–2027. The packet says the informational presentation will cover enrollment, staffing, first-day updates, ParentSquare, school safety, nutrition and district initiatives.
Empower U Academy
The district plans to present a redesign of its annual Empower U Conference into a year-long Empower U Academy beginning in 2026–2027.
The program is described as supporting achievement and relationship-building among Black/African American students and their families. This item is informational and does not require Board action.
Other Proposed Actions and Consent Items
One-Year Provisional Internship Permit
Staff recommends approving a one-year, nonrenewable Provisional Internship Permit for Cloetta Gore, a 1.0 FTE SDC Teacher at Heron School.
The packet explains that a district may request this type of permit after conducting a diligent search and being unable to find a fully credentialed teacher. The permit gives an applicant additional time to satisfy subject-matter requirements needed to enter an internship program.
Personnel and Routine Business
The consent calendar includes numerous certificated and classified hires, promotions, transfers, resignations, reclassifications and other personnel actions. It also includes proposed approval of July 2026 payroll and claims, acceptance of donations, and the pending June 10 and June 24 Regular Board Meeting minutes.
Reported donations include $300 in cash contributions to Joey’s Food Locker, $1,044.74 from SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union for retiree awards and $500 for the Community Service Program.
What to Watch at the Meeting
The special education review is one of the packet’s most consequential informational items because it identifies districtwide concerns extending beyond the special education department itself. The consultants recommend changes involving general education supports, discipline, family engagement, Section 504, MTSS, professional development and cross-department accountability.
On the action side, the Board is scheduled to decide whether to approve the proposed Measure J and L bond reallocations, a three-year fuel-provider arrangement, the Provisional Internship Permit and the second-reading policy package. The meeting therefore combines immediate spending and governance decisions with several reports that outline longer-term work for the 2026–2027 school year.
