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Dublin, Calif., November 9, 2023 – Governor Gavin Newsom announced on November 2, 2023, that the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District (CLPCCD) and its partners were awarded one of four $18.1M grants through the Regional K-16 Education Collaboratives Grant Program. California distributed a total of $72.5 million to create regional education-to-career pipelines as part of a $250 million investment in the 2021 Budget Act.
The K-16 Program is part of a statewide strategy for strengthening education-to-career pathways and ensuring stakeholders work together to address inequalities that persist in education and job market preparation. The funding supports regional K-16 education collaboratives to create streamlined pathways from high school to postsecondary education and into the workforce. The funds were awarded by the Department of General Services (DGS), Office of Public School Construction, and the Foundation for California Community Colleges.
“Our cross-regional collaborative will focus on student retention and on removing barriers between educational institutions,” said Ronald Gerhard, chancellor for the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District. “Strengthening our partnerships will allow us to deliver early college preparation programming and systems changes to support degree completion and career entry.”
The Bay Area K-16 Collaborative, led by the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District, encompasses five San Francisco Bay Area counties and includes two University of California campuses, three California State University campuses, seven California Community College Districts, fourteen unified school districts, the Alameda County Office of Education, five non-profit organizations, seven business networks, and two regional occupational programs.
Since March 2022, CLPCCD leaders have convened a broad group of partners to establish the foundation for the collaboration. Leading the efforts with CLPCCD, are a council of co-PIs representing Cal State University East Bay, UC Berkeley, San Jose State University, and San Francisco State University. The role of the Co-PI Council was to guide the collaborative’s vision and work over the course of the planning and implementation periods for the grant. Three California State University deans led the three subregions of the project: San Francisco/Peninsula, East Bay, and San Jose.
“Over the last year and a half, our planning focused on increased access and systems that support first-generation college and low-income students to complete baccalaureate degrees and enter high-skill local jobs,” said Dr. Theresa Fleischer Rowland, vice chancellor for Educational Services and Student Success at the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District and the lead principal investigator for the implementation. “The Bay Area K-16 Collaborative Implementation Grant allows us to build deeper connections with industry, including the expansion of accelerated pathways and work-based learning for students who can benefit the most.”
The Bay Area K-16 Collaborative will coalesce regional networks and industry around equity pathways in: Education, Engineering/Computing, and Healthcare/Biotechnology. The K-16 Program required collaboratives to meet all the following criteria:
- Include at least one K-12 school district
- Include at least one University of California campus
- Include at least one California State University campus
- Include at least one California Community College district
- Establish a steering committee, of which at least 25 percent of the members are local employers
- Commit to participate in the California Cradle-to-Career Data System
- Commit to implement at least four recommendations from the 2021 Recovery with Equity report to promote student success
- By June 30, 2024, implement two target Recovery with Equity report recommendations and fully establish one occupational pathway, demonstrate progress toward the final two target Recovery with Equity report recommendations and occupational pathway, and participate fully in a statewide evaluation of the regional collaboratives.
- By June 30, 2026, fully implement both occupational pathways and all four target Recovery with Equity report recommendations.
To learn more about the K-16 Bay Area Collaborative, its participating partners, and the collaborative’s focus, go to https://www.bayareak16.org/.
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