Case Study: Arcadia Unified School District achieves greater community engagement and faster, data-driven LCAP decisions with ThoughtExchange

Arcadia engages more people to create a better LCAP

Arcadia Unified School District, led by Superintendent Dr. David Vannasdall, serves about 10,000 students in a diverse Southern California community where many parents—some newly arrived from as far as Mainland China—are motivated to engage but unable to attend traditional daytime meetings. When California’s LCAP required broad community input, the district faced the challenge of collecting meaningful, representative feedback from busy families, staff, students and local stakeholders.

Arcadia partnered with Thoughtexchange to run an online, confidential exchange that let participants share open‑ended thoughts and rate others’ ideas on their own schedule. The process reached far more people (including record staff participation), made in-person meetings more focused by starting discussions from shared data, surfaced district and site-level priorities for better resource allocation, and increased transparency and community ownership—an approach the district now uses annually.

Arcadia Unified School District

David Vannasdall

Deputy Superintendent