MUSD is on the right path for future successes

To end 2023, I decided to reflect on the current state of the Milpitas Unified School District. These are my views based on my experiences, research, board meeting participation, parent communication, student interaction, community member inquiry, and feedback from city, county, state and federal officials:

About MUSD 
MUSD is an award-winning school district (the only public district within our city limits), serving more than 10,000 students (bringing 52+ languages spoken) and employing more than 1,000 educators (both certificated and classified), with an active 5-member governing board, dedicated leadership and staff members, parent volunteers, community-based organizations and leaders. As a unified district, we have 19 schools educating students from early childhood through adult education. Accolades include 8 California Distinguished Schools, 6 State Honor Roll Schools, 1 World Language School (Spanish/Mandarin), 1 State Model Continuation School, and 1 National Middle Schools To Watch. See how MUSD rates on California Department of Education Dashboard.

Our MUSD students are at the heart of everything. The majority of them show up everyday willing to try and eager to learn. Some of them come to school with barriers to their learning experiences due to life circumstances, neurodiversities, physical limitations, and other reasons. Our staff recognizes these challenges and strives to make a positive impact.

Our MUSD parents are extremely diverse in culture, demographics, socioeconomic status, vocations, professions and education backgrounds. The majority of parents have moderate levels of volunteerism and participation (the highest level at our elementary schools). 

Show Me The Money (Summary)
District budget of $155+ million covers employees salary and benefits, building/land maintenance, student nutrition, software/hardware, insurance, product licenses, transportation, and much much more. Funding sources include federal and state budgets, local parcel taxes and bonds (MUSD has Aa1 and AA credit ratings per Moody’s Investors and S&P Global Ratings), fundraisers and donations, and a wide variety of one-time grants.

Federal and state funding (it can be annual, multi-year, or one-time funds and restricted or unrestricted funds) comes from our enrollment and attendance, along with categorical sources such as special education. When the federal or state budgets face deficits, we get less money to run our district.

Opportunities, Challenges and Technologies
Opportunities include: increasing enrollment and cultivating attendance; providing comprehensive employee pathway development; expanding STEAM, computer science, digital literacy, multilingualism, artificial intelligence, and inclusive services; strengthening Parent Teacher Associations and Organizations (PTA/PTO); growing strategic partnerships with community-based organizations and parents working in regional businesses and City of Milpitas. The District must advocate for public education funding, workforce housing, and solving the educator shortage through our locally elected officials (Congress, Senate, County, Assembly, Mayor, City Council). 

Challenges include combatting federal and state budget deficits, declining enrollment, decreasing attendance, negative effects of social media, and expanding private schools and home school networks. Staffing issues occur due to Silicon Valley housing and rental market, cost of living expenses (i.e. gas, food), career pathway mobility, commute time, and state-wide market competition.

Over the last decade, MUSD has been an education technology leader as an early adopter of Google Classroom, Gmail, GChat, Facebook @ Work, iReady, Khan Academy, Summit Learning Platform and other top tier education technologies. We were among the first to adopt Google Chromebooks and offer a 1:1 device-to-student ratio. We utilize ChatGPT and other forms of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our classrooms so teachers and students learn to safely use AI platforms, including Khanmigo by Khan Academy. Our Director of IT organized an AI education working group to develop curriculum; MUSD has representation on the California School Boards Association AI Task Force; and our Superintendent is developing an MUSD AI Task Force of all stakeholders.

State of The District
The state of MUSD is strong with aspirations of providing a world class TK - Adult learner education system with the MUSD Innovation Campus, MHS, Calaveras Hills, Milpitas Middle College High School and Adult Ed as its core pillars to career pathway growth opportunities for our learners and staff. The MUSD North Star is to “Build A Culture of We” and the cornerstone of its  5 Strategic Goals. 

MUSD continues to deliver on its bond and parcel tax promises with the completion of Mabel Mattos elementary school, implementation of safety and security perimeters at school sites, expansion of Randall World Languages School, and breaking ground on the MHS Performing Art Center. The District has mature leadership from top to bottom sprinkled across the district with fresh ideas from new leaders, continues to invest in professional development, and out of the box fundraising opportunities. 

Everyday MUSD faces challenges of safety and security (thank you Milpitas PD for your partnership); of the mental health of students and staff; and of the academic and attendance struggles of underserved, homeless, foster and Special Education students. These challenges are caused by changing times, ongoing education industry staffing shortages, bias, economic uncertainty, global turmoil and post-COVID conditions.  

Our future lies in the resilient local hands of MUSD staff, Milpitas residents, parents, taxpayers, voters, volunteers, businesses, community members, elected officials and more. Happiest of holidays to all! 

In Service,

Chris Norwood 
2020 CSBA State Board Member of the Year
MUSD Senior Board Member

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