“Inspired by local and national advocacy for racial equity, as well as the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, SUSD aims to improve chronic absenteeism, suspension rates and academic achievement for African American students through increased transparency and progress monitoring,” according to its website. This goal is reflected in strategic documents such as the African American Black Student Achievement Plan, with data and targets for all Black students reported by district teams.
The district has been honing its supports for African American students, and all students, over the last several years. In 2025, district leadership held 11 public input sessions and various meetings with staff organizations to establish six newly identified or revised Local Control and Accountability Plan goals: increase student academic achievement, center the whole child, provide innovative programming influenced by student voice and emerging global industry trends, create meaningful partnerships with families and community stakeholders, better support for students with disabilities, and “provide positive learning conditions and experiences through time, attention, and resources that disrupt and remove instructional, institutional, and cultural barriers for African American/Black student groups so they may thrive through academic success, sense of belonging, and culturally relevant education.”
The plan emphasizes culturally responsive teaching and affirming school climates that uplift identity and student voice, embedding data-driven supports and targeted interventions directly into the school day, partnering with families and communities to turn schools into hubs of opportunity and care, and implementing accountability systems that measure not just compliance, but progress.
SUSD’s African American/Black Parent Advisory Committee meets regularly to surface issues for Black students and families and talk about supports and solutions. The district also has robust community partnerships helping provide support services from academic tutoring to social-emotional supports. Highlights include the Amelia Ann Adams Whole Life Center, which provides holistic support and empowerment for African American girls; the Student Program for Academic and Athletic Transitioning, a program preparing student-athletes for academic excellence and athletic support; Kingmakers of Oakland, which builds leadership and cultural pride among African American male students; and Improve Your Tomorrow, which focuses on college/career mentoring for young men of color.
“The purpose of the Stockton Unified School District Ethnic Studies program is to empower students by exploring the rich, intersectional, and interconnected histories, cultures, and identities of Black, Indigenous, People of Color and historically marginalized communities,” the district Ethnic Studies Framework states. “Through culturally relevant, decolonizing, and community responsive practices, students develop the skills to critically analyze racism and other forms of oppression to work in solidarity across and with communities to create a more socially just and equitable world. With love, respect, reflection, hope, solidarity, critical consciousness, community, interconnection, wellness, healing, and transformation; Ethnic Studies students become the necessary scholars, leaders, and agents of change our community and world needs and deserves.”
SUSD creates a positive school climate for its African American population through clubs like Black Student Unions, the Black Employees Association, and joining community events like the annual Black Family Day.
“Over my first two years as superintendent, SUSD achieved a 6.7 districtwide increase with all four comprehensive high schools surpassing a 90 percent graduation rate,” said SUSD Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez in a recorded message. “For the past two consecutive years, SUSD has had the highest graduation rate in the district’s history. This year, we anticipate reaching a 91 percent districtwide graduation rate. Our strategies result in an impressive 11.3 percent increase in graduation rates for English learners and a 5.3 percent increase for African-American/Black students. These gains also reflect the power of cross-departmental collaboration and real-time data monitoring to identify and respond to student needs.”