CSBA sponsoring disaster relief legislation for California schools

From the wine country to the Southern California coastline, California is still reeling from the disastrous string of fires and other tragic incidents that plagued the state throughout 2017 and into 2018.

This stretch of time saw thousands of homes destroyed and more than a half-million acres burned. In addition to the billions of dollars in structural damage caused by the fires comes an inevitable loss of funding for schools in affected areas due to decreases in attendance, even if those declines are temporary. In response, CSBA is sponsoring Assembly Bill 2228, authored by Sonoma County legislator Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg), which will allow affected local educational agencies to recoup lost revenue. The bill provides that LEAs located within a county where a state of emergency was declared during the 2017 calendar year will be entitled to supplemental funding to cover the loss of average daily attendance funding if the LEA experienced an attributable material decrease in ADA.

Can a school discipline students for an off-campus social media post?

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1969 in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District that the First Amendment applied to public schools and schools could not censor student speech that did not disrupt the educational process. The Court found that the students’ black armbands protesting the Vietnam War were not disruptive and famously wrote that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” These constitutional protections are embedded in California’s Education Code section 48907, which gives public school students in California broad free speech rights, including “the use of bulletin boards, the distribution of printed materials or petitions, the wearing of buttons, badges, and other insignia, and the right of expression in official publications.”

Asking the right questions

In my experience as a school board trustee, it can sometimes be difficult to focus on what I refer to as the “real work” of the board. It seems like there are so many issues that arise each month that are just as critical and deserving of attention as the month before, and the month before that, and so on. How do you know when the board has the right focus?

We’ve all participated in a workplace meeting at some point where we found ourselves judging whether or not this meeting actually counts as a good use of our time. You know there’s information being shared, but you’re not quite sure why that information is being shared. Those types of conversations can fall into one of two areas: 1) low-value conversations where the subject matter has low urgency and low importance, and 2) distractions that have high urgency but low importance.

School districts across the state adopt CSBA Full and Fair Funding Resolution

CSBA members call on Legislature to fund California public schools at the national average by 2020 and the average of the top 10 states by 2025

State auditor stresses importance of school safety plans

African-American History Month: A snapshot of California’s students

Last month, the U.S. celebrated African-American History Month. With almost 400,000 African-American students attending California’s K-12 public schools, our state is home to the sixth largest population of African-American students in the country. Unfortunately, large opportunity and achievement gaps exist for this group of students.

By better understanding the issues contributing to these achievement gaps, board members and other educational advocates can build more effective strategies and targeted support. Here is a further look at California’s African-American students:

African-American students are highly concentrated in California school districts

While 6 percent of public school students in California are African-American (compared to 16 percent nationally), this average masks their concentration in a limited number of school districts. More than 20 California school districts have an African-American student population that is near or above the national average. In addition, 12 California school districts have an African-American student population that is more than one-fifth of their total enrollment.

Q&A: The English Learner Roadmap

A new CSBA brief “The English Learner Roadmap: Providing Direction for English Learner Success,” part of the English Learners in Focus series, explores California’s historic new EL education policy.

The Roadmap sets California on a new course that views EL education as a systemwide responsibility centered on challenging curriculum, while respecting the value of ELs’ primary language and culture. California School News sat down with one of the brief’s authors, Laurie Olsen, to explore the new policy and learn how the brief helps to summarize this essential knowledge for board members.

What is the California English Learner Roadmap?

The English Learner Roadmap is the new English learner policy for California. It was passed by the State Board in July and it supersedes the 1998 policy. It is intended to provide districts and schools throughout the state with a common vision of what should be happening for our English learners as well as guidance for planning effective practices and programs for English learners.

Schools required to complete sudden cardiac arrest training

Training required for coaches of varsity and club sports

A new California law requires all K-12 schools in the state to educate coaches, parents/guardians and student athletes about sudden cardiac arrest. SCA occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating, typically due to arrhythmia. It is also a leading cause of death for student athletes and often fatal if not treated within minutes.

With this risk in mind, Assembly Bill 1639 (Maienschein, R-San Diego) requires coaches of athletic activities to complete the sudden cardiac arrest prevention training course and retake the course every two years. Beginning July 1, 2019, a coach who does not comply with the training requirement will be suspended from coaching until the course is completed. The requirement applies to coaches of interscholastic athletics, cheerleading and noncompetitive cheerleading, club-sponsored sports activities and practices, and interscholastic practices and scrimmages (but not physical education classes).

Legislative Analyst’s Office report pros and cons in Governor’s education budget