On June 20th, the Rim of the World Unified School District (ROWUSD) Board of Education formally adopted its 2025–26 Advocacy Platform, a legislative agenda designed not just to advance policy priorities, but with the end-goal of stabilizing the district’s long-term financial outlook. The platform outlines the Board’s clearest and most urgent requests to lawmakers grounded in the realities of operating a school system in California’s mountain communities.
Developed as an all-inclusive document for state and federal policymakers, the platform will serve as a “leave behind” tool when trustees meet with legislators in the coming year. But it is not just a list of asks: It is the beginning of a broader effort to tell the story behind each request, draft real legislative proposals, and push for change that can support all rural districts across the state.
Centering Rural Voices in State and Federal Policy
Rim serves the unincorporated communities of Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, and Running Springs, spanning over 150 square miles of mountainous terrain in the San Bernardino National Forest. Those conditions bring higher costs for transportation, facilities, staffing, and storm-related closures, but most state and federal funding formulas ignore these realities.
Summary of Advocacy Platform
1. Full and Fair Ongoing Funding
Rim is calling for a rural-specific LCFF add-on and disaster contingency funding to reflect the district’s higher operational costs. This builds on the success of SB 1429, which the district co-sponsored in 2024 and was signed into law later that year. Learn more about how COLA is not enough and how surrounding districts receive thousands more per student per year in funding.
2. Streamlined Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)
Supporting legislation like SB 1315, the Board calls for a simpler 8–10 page LCAP format to reduce administrative burden and make the plan more accessible to families and non-English speakers.
3. Safe and Modern School Facilities
While Measure E will provide $71 million for modernization, mountain construction costs far exceed what local funding alone can cover. The platform urges the state to prioritize matching funds from Proposition 2 for rural districts like Rim.
4. Comprehensive Support for Special Education
The platform calls for full federal IDEA funding, recruitment incentives for rural special educators, and more school-based behavioral and mental health supports. Learn more about how Rim is filling the gap in special education funding.
5. Equitable and Sustainable Transportation Funding
With 88% of students relying on school buses, Rim urges full reimbursement for student transportation and dedicated funds for electric vehicle adoption that are tailored for high-altitude, storm-prone areas.
Advocacy as a Financial Imperative
Though centered on legislation, the platform is also a strategic response to Rim’s current and projected financial pressures. As outlined in When COLA’s Limited Relief, the district faces a large structural deficit with reserves projected to be depleted within just three (3) years. Each item in the platform offers a concrete path to fiscal stability:
- Fully funded transportation would relieve pressure on the General Fund and restore dollars to classrooms.
- Special Education funding reform would reduce reliance on unrestricted funds to subsidize underfunded legislation like IDEA.
- A rural LCFF add-on would help prevent cuts and allow Rim to become more competitive in this COLA-constrained environment.
- A streamlined LCAP format would allow Rim to redeploy limited staff capacity toward better instruction and curriculum planning.
In short: Advocacy is a necessity. Rim’s platform bridges the gap between equity and solvency.
What Comes Next: From Platform to Policy
The Board is now beginning the next phase: Writing the stories behind each priority to demonstrate the real-world impact on students, families, and staff. Trustees will also identify the exact Education Code or policy language that needs to change, ensuring that fully drafted legislation can be shared with elected officials well ahead of the 2025–26 legislative session.
A Call for Partnership
“We’re not just dropping off a list and walking away,” said Trustee Jordan Zarate. “We are inviting our representatives to walk alongside us, to understand what is really happening in our mountain schools and to craft sustainable solutions that will last.”
Full Advocacy Platform Text
Rim of the World Unified School District Advocacy Platform 2025–26
Rim of the World Unified School District (ROWUSD) serves a resilient community nestled in the San Bernardino National Forest. With school sites stretching across more than 150 square miles of rugged terrain, we provide education to students in the unincorporated communities of Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, and Running Springs.
ROWUSD is committed to advocating for thoughtful state and federal public policies that support the unique needs of our students, staff, and community. As a rural and geographically unique district, our needs differ from those of urban or suburban areas. This advocacy platform outlines our most urgent policy priorities — rooted in community resilience, educational equity, and fiscal sustainability.
Advocacy Priorities
1. Full and Fair Ongoing Funding
Robust, stable funding is crucial for ROWUSD, given our rural, mountainous geography and the higher operational expenses that come with it. These expenses include disproportionate costs for transportation, special education, and staffing. Additionally, declining enrollment in rural regions further compounds financial strain, necessitating every dollar stretch further. We support policies that:
- Promote local control of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) as local entities understand local needs.
- Ensure annual full Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) and increase base funding.
- Build upon success of SB 1429 (2023, sponsored by ROWUSD) by creating rural-specific funding formulas and disaster contingency funding to address higher costs from geography, enrollment shifts, and natural events, recognizing the higher per-student costs due to geography and service needs.
- Provide special consideration and supplemental funding for districts facing significant impacts from natural disasters, particularly severe snowstorms.
- Implement an LCFF add-on for rural school districts to address inequities in the LCFF.
- Protect & enhance federal funding streams including but not limited to: Title I, II, III, IV, and Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.
2. Streamlined Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)
While the intent behind the LCAP is important, today’s process is administratively burdensome, overly complex, and inaccessible to many stakeholders. For rural districts like ours, the LCAP can exceed 170 pages, draining valuable time and resources away from student-centered planning. We support reforms, such as those proposed in SB 1315 (2023–2024), to:
- Reduce the LCAP to a concise, actionable format of 8–10 pages, focused on meaningful metrics and clear goals.
- Improve public transparency and accessibility by making the LCAP easier to read, especially for parents, community members, and non-English speakers.
- Redirect district resources from administrative tasks to direct educational improvement, strategic planning, and stakeholder engagement.
- Ensure that LCAP modernization maintains local control and includes input from rural LEAs, whose capacity and structure differ from large districts.
3. Safe and Modern School Facilities
High-quality learning is only possible in facilities that are safe, accessible, and equipped to withstand both time and climate. Our schools face accelerated wear due to snow, ice, and extreme temperatures. From leaking roofs to outdated electrical systems, our infrastructure needs are urgent — and carry significant additional costs in mountain environments.
Thanks to the overwhelming support of our community, Measure E (2024) will provide $71 million in local bond funding to begin modernizing our school campuses. And with the passage of Proposition 2, we are hopeful to access state matching dollars to extend this investment even further. But local bonds alone are not sufficient to meet the scale of the need. We urge state and federal leaders to:
- Prioritize Proposition 2 matching funds for high-needs, rural districts like ROWUSD, where modernization costs are higher due to extreme weather conditions and rugged terrain; qualified vendors are more difficult to secure; and funding options more limited.
- Provide ongoing, dedicated funding streams for the construction, modernization, and maintenance of school facilities.
- Support infrastructure installment and/or upgrades that address climate resilience, including HVAC, window replacements, and wildfire-hardening measures.
- Recognize the dual use of school facilities in our region as emergency shelters during natural disasters — making resilient construction a matter of public safety — and fully reimburse rural districts that carry this community responsibility.
4. Comprehensive Support for Special Education
Providing a high-quality education for students with disabilities is a legal and moral obligation — one that requires sustained, sufficient funding. Rural districts face unique barriers, including difficulty recruiting specialized staff, limited access to mental and behavioral health professionals, and higher per-pupil service costs. We advocate for:
- Fulfillment of the federal government’s commitment under IDEA to fund 40% of special education costs, as originally intended.
- Additional funding for early identification services and transportation to services not available within our rural community.
- Increased state funding to support the hiring and retention of special education teachers, aides, and service providers in hard-to-staff rural regions.
- Enhanced funding for school-based mental health and behavioral support services, which are essential to supporting students with 504s and IEPs.
5. Equitable and Sustainable Transportation Funding
Transportation is a critical need for our geographically expansive district, spanning over 150 square miles of mountainous terrain, where 88% of our students rely on district transportation. However, current funding mechanisms cover only about 60% of our student transportation costs, leaving a significant gap. Long bus routes, snow-related delays, and higher maintenance needs for vehicles operating in rugged conditions exacerbate these challenges. We advocate for:
- 100% funding for student transportation in rural districts to ensure safe, reliable transit across challenging mountainous terrains.
- Reform LCFF’s transportation add-on to account for actual route distance and terrain difficulty, not just enrollment or ridership numbers.
- Electric vehicle (EV) transition funding for infrastructure, vehicle acquisition, staff training, and ongoing maintenance — ensuring rural districts are not left behind in the state’s clean energy goals.
- Recognize the increased wear and safety demands on vehicles operating in high-altitude, icy, and storm- prone environments.
We call on state and federal leaders to ensure rural school districts like ROWUSD are not left behind. Visit our schools. Witness our challenges. Partner with us for real, rural solutions.
2025–26 Budget Discussions
This is part of an ongoing series covering the implications of the 2025–26 budget on our local schools in Rim of the World Unified School District. Read more articles in the series now.