At CCBE’sgeneral membership meeting in San Diego Dec. 3, members heard reports the organization’s 2021 accomplishments and learned about what’s ahead for 2022. The meeting also saw the election of new officers. Gina Cuclis of the Sonoma County Office of Education was elected President-elect. Hector Camacho of San Mateo COE was elected Vice President. This occurred after a surprising move by the other VP candidate, David Patterson of Placer COE. Patterson gave his speech first, encouraging members to vote for Camacho, saying CCBE should encourage younger and more diverse leadership.
Via a nomination from the floor, Karina Talamantes of Sacramento COE was elected Treasurer and it was announced that the CSBA Delegate Assembly had elected Mike Teasdale of Ventura COE as the Director-at-Large, County. The DAL also serves on the CCBE Executive Committee. Outgoing President Rick Shea of San Diego COE described 2021 as an eventful year due to the creation of CCBE’s computer science project, made possible by a donation from Zoom founder and CEO Eric Yuan, and the hiring of CCBE’s new program manager Samantha Archey.
Mark Landsberger from San Diego COE presented an update about the computer science project. The project’s objective is to advance equitable access to high-quality computer science education in California by focusing on computer science as a top priority for CCBE. Landsberger said the project’s goals included creating a dedicated computer science track at the CCBE Annual Conference and developing a toolkit for computer science teaching and learning that includes curricular materials, teacher training resources and is an online research website for computer science staff and local educational agencies. The toolkit can be found at cs.ccbe.us. The computer science project also sponsored a CsforAll SCRIPT training in which 15 county representatives participated.
Treasurer Matt Taylor of Yolo COE reported CCBE is in sound financial position. He reported the Board of Directors at its Dec. 2 meeting adopted the fiscal year 2021–22 budget and decided to keep CCBE membership dues the same as FY 2020–21.
Professional Development Training Committee Chair Rachel Ulrich of Ventura COE encouraged members to attend the upcoming CCBE Board Governance Workshop March 11-12 at the Embassy Suites, Sacramento. The workshop will focus on empowering county board members to serve in challenging times. Participants can expect to gain in-depth county-focused learning on community engagement; elections; appointments and redistricting; learning loss and innovative ways to re-engage students. Register at www.theccbe.org with the early bird price of $325 through Feb. 4.
The meeting concluded with an inspiring speech by incoming President Joe Ross of San Mateo COE, who thanked the executive committee and recognized outgoing President Shea for his outstanding leadership during a challenging year.