Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are evolving quickly, and with those advances come many opportunities and challenges for TK-12 schools. Whether it’s from a policy or curricular perspective, governing board members are looking for support. The CSBA AI Taskforce: Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence is working to address these issues in their ongoing work.

The most recent meeting of the taskforce on May 29 further outlined and developed resources the group would like to deliver to support the work of boards of education. The aim is to provide trustee-specific information to empower governance teams to appropriately vet, adopt, manage, monitor and be accountable for the efficacy and equity of AI tools and their use by students and staff.

School board members are expected to master both sides of that equation — what the law allows us to do and what allows us to do the most for our students. We have both a legal obligation to conduct ourselves ethically and a moral responsibility to act honorably as stewards of our communities’ most valuable resources, our public schools. Beyond our sense of duty, there is another reason to become familiar with the ethical boundaries of the school board role — it’s the law.

CSBA President Albert Gonzalez opened the meeting with acknowledgement of the discussions and some discontent that has come from the transition from CCBE to CBMS.

On April 19, 2024, after some delay, the U.S. Department of Education under the Biden Administration issued a new set of final Title IX Regulations regarding sex discrimination. The 1,557-page Final Rule containing the regulations is available for review at the department’s website, along with a fact sheet, summary of key provisions and a resource for drafting related policies. While there was perhaps an expectation that these new regulations would make a big splash politically, the changes to the existing regulations are subtle, but important. The regulations go into effect Aug. 1, 2024.

Five key takeaways that board members should know about:

As states around the country — more than 20 at the time of this writing — sue the federal government over LGBTQ protections in its Title IX rule released in April, a new survey from The Trevor Project revealed that 39 percent of LGBTQ young people have seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.

Pride Month can serve as a time to recognize and celebrate LGBTQ youth and examine how local educational agencies and schools are providing support and welcoming climates for this student population. From the results of the survey, it is clear that many LEAs are failing their LGBTQ students.

A unique initiative is taking place in the Coachella Valley, bringing a fresh stream of student ideas to the arid desert climate. A partnership between three local districts — Coachella Valley Unified School District, Desert Sands USD and Palm Springs USD — and the Desert Sun newspaper is bringing student perspectives to the entire community.

Evolving from an original idea from Desert Sun education reporter Jennifer Cortez to spotlight a student of the week, collaborative discussions with the districts’ high school principals evolved the idea into one where students could contribute more than a profile.

“He had a front tire blowout, which is probably one of the most dangerous things you could have in a commercial truck,” said Dein — the recent California recipient of the 2025 Association for Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year Award.

There are many new board members in the state who have never been through the process of negotiating labor contracts during tough economic times. Yet, even for seasoned trustees, new challenges related to the state’s massive budget deficit, declining enrollment and the end of one-time COVID funding are likely to arise as collective bargaining takes place.

To help local educational agency trustees prepare for and ideally avoid significant conflict with labor partners, CSBA hosted a webinar on May 1, “Strategies for Collective Bargaining in Tough Financial Times,” featuring a panel of legal experts discussing strategies and guidance for negotiating labor contracts when funds are scarce.

With the goal of shifting toward fostering a more inclusive and supportive school environment, many laws that govern student discipline, including the prohibition of recess detention and the suspension of students for willful defiance, challenge educators and administrators to explore alternative disciplinary measures. Teachers and school leaders should be aware of this revised legislative landscape and employ prevention strategies and evidence-based interventions to support positive behavior in schools.

While recess is often perceived as a simple break from academic studies, research indicates it has profound importance for student well-being. Beyond providing a chance to unwind, recess plays a pivotal role in student health, offering children opportunities for essential physical activity that benefits their cardiovascular health, bone and muscle strength and motor skills development. The freedom to run, jump and play during recess contributes significantly to overall physical and mental well-being.

The California State Board of Education (SBE) meeting (blog.csba.org/sbe-may-2024-recap) on May 8 saw the board take action on community school funding, waivers related to instructional minutes lost to teacher strikes and late start changes, reading screeners and more.

The board approved the third cohort of the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) implementation grantees, making it “the largest community schools allocation yet under the state’s nation-leading initiative to transform schools through a child- and family-centered lens,” said Board President Linda Darling-Hammond.

As staffing shortages continue to impact local educational agencies across the U.S., teacher education deserts, defined as a county that does not have a preparation program within 60 miles of its county office of education, are most common in California’s rural border counties (those that border other states and/or Mexico).

Nine of California’s 58 counties — Alpine, Del Norte, Imperial, Inyo, Lassen, Modoc, Mono, Sierra and Siskiyou — are considered teacher education deserts.