March 2018 Vol. 24, 3
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.

What’sInside
OntheWeb
csba.org/Newsroom:
  • Visit www.csba.org/Newsroom for links to digital versions of current and past issues of California School News.
legal
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.”
staff
Senior Director of Communications:
Troy Flint | tflint@csba.org

Managing Editor:
Kimberly Sellery | ksellery@csba.org

Marketing Director:

Serina Pruitt | spruitt@csba.org

Staff Writers and Contributors:
Hugh Biggar | hbiggar@csba.org
Aaron Davis | adavis@csba.org
Corrie Jacobs | cjacobs@csba.org

Graphic Design Manager:
Kerry Macklin | kmacklin@csba.org

Senior Graphic Designer:

Carmen Rodriguez | crodriguez@csba.org

officers
President:
Mike Walsh | Butte COE

President-elect:
Emma Turner | La Mesa-Spring Valley SD

Vice President:
Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez | Azusa USD

Immediate Past President:
Susan Henry | Huntington Beach Union HSD

CEO & Executive Director:
Vernon M. Billy

The California School Boards Association is the essential voice for public education. We inspire our members to be knowledgeable leaders, extraordinary governance practitioners and ardent advocates for all students.
California School News (ISSN 1091-1715) is published 11 times per year by the California School Boards Association, Inc., 3251 Beacon Blvd., West Sacramento, CA 95691. 916-371-4691. $4 of CSBA annual membership dues is for the subscription to California School News. The subscription rate for each CSBA nonmember is $35. Periodicals postage paid at West Sacramento, CA and at additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to California School News, 3251 Beacon Blvd., West Sacramento, CA 95691.

News and feature items submitted for publication are edited for style and space as necessary.

leadership
Vantage Point: by CSBA President Mike Walsh
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.

csba leadership
Officers and Board of Directors 2017–18
Mike Walsh
President

Butte COE
Emma Turner
President-elect

La Mesa-Spring Valley SD
Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez
Vice President

Azusa USD
Susan Henry
Immediate Past President

Huntington Beach Union HSD
Jennifer Owen
Region 1

Fort Bragg USD
Sherry Crawford
Region 2

Siskiyou COE
full & fair funding
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
In last month’s newsletter, CSBA introduced the “Resolution Calling for Full and Fair Funding of California’s Public Schools.” Since then, school districts and county offices of education throughout the state have adopted this resolution, joining a movement demanding full and fair funding that provides the access, resources and supports required to provide a high-quality education for all public school students.

Despite having the sixth largest economy in the world and the highest gross domestic product of any state, California spends significantly less per pupil than almost every other state.

safety & leadership
State auditor stresses importance of school safety plans
On Nov. 14, 2017, a school secretary heard gunshots from her office and quickly ordered a school lockdown. School staff at Rancho Tehama Elementary School, located 130 miles north of Sacramento, collected students from the playground, barricaded the school and sheltered in place as a gunman rammed through the front gates of the school. He exited his pickup truck armed with a semi-automatic rifle and, finding himself locked out of the school, fired instead at the walls and windows before he reportedly became frustrated and left. Two students were injured, one from a bullet that penetrated the wall. But the quick thinking and preparedness of the school staff prevented even more casualties and lives lost at the elementary school campus of about 100 students.
CSBA honors outstanding legislators
For the past 30 years, CSBA has honored current members of the California Senate and Assembly, as well as members of Congress, who actively work to improve our public schools, support local school board governance and exercise leadership in the legislative arena. The 2017 Outstanding Legislator Awards honored three fierce advocates for public education: Assemblymember Catharine Baker (R-Dublin), Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) and Senator Richard Roth (D-Riverside). Senator Steve Glazer was given a Special Recognition award.

All four awardees supported CSBA’s 2017 sponsored legislation, voting in favor of Senate Bill 751, which amends the school district reserve cap; SB 527 (Galgiani, D-Stockton), which sought to strengthen state funding for home-to-school transportation; and Assembly Bill 1354 (Kiley, R-Roseville), which amends the California Education Code to eliminate obsolete and unnecessary programs.

advocacy
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.
new policy
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.
governance
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).

Governance Corner
Practical tips from our MIG faculty
In the weeks ahead, board members throughout the state can likely anticipate a report from district staff on the mid-year status of their district’s Local Control and Accountability Plan. As a trustee, you will be called at times to set direction, monitor progress and evaluate programs and services as part of a cycle of inquiry. To support the board role in aligning resources with programs that focus on student achievement, Masters in Governance faculty have gathered the following guiding questions to promote data-informed board discussion and decision-making in order to ensure that the California School Dashboard results are addressed and LCAP goals are being met.
Guiding questions to consider:
Program monitoring: Where are we seeing growth and progress in programs designed to achieve LCAP goals? What areas are we not seeing the progress anticipated and why? What additional supports are needed to reach the goals?

Resource allocation and alignment: What encumbered funds have already been spent as planned, and which have not? Based on the program monitoring questions above, what budget alignment changes might the board want to explore?

Community input: In the event that changes to programs and services need to be explored, how can the community best be engaged to get their input? Do the community voices include parents and students who are affected by the services and programming that may shift?

Thinking through these guiding questions with an expressed intent of better serving the needs of the students in your district will ultimately help in creating thoughtful, board-level questions that are relevant and aligned in your local context.

budget
Legislative Analyst’s Office report pros and cons in Governor’s education budget
In a new Proposition 98 analysis of 2018–19 state budget, the Legislative Analyst’s Office said Gov. Jerry Brown’s spending proposals were a good start but some issues demanded more attention.

“The Governor’s approach is reasonable but some specific proposals do not address root issues,” the LAO report concluded.

Gov. Brown’s budget for Proposition 98 spending includes $5 billion for K-12 funding, increasing per-student funding from $11,165 to $11,628 for 2018–19. That $5 billion would be used for a mix of ongoing and one-time initiatives to reduce the likelihood of programmatic cuts if a recession takes place. While the LAO approved of this approach, it expressed concern about “underlying problems” in the Local Control Funding Formula, district support, special education teacher shortages and career and technical education. The agency report suggested alternatives to address these issues in less costly ways than the proposals by Gov. Brown, stressing its role as an advisor to the Legislature.

more news
New law: Feminine hygiene products in schools
Assembly Bill 10 (Garcia, D-Bell Gardens), signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year, requires all California public schools serving grades six through 12 where 40 percent of the students fall below the federal poverty line to provide free feminine hygiene products at no cost in 50 percent of its restrooms. In comments made at bill hearings, Assemblymember Cristina Garcia cited the need for this legislation. “Menstrual products, tampons and pads are a medical necessity for all people that menstruate,” she said. “Young girls sometimes miss school because of a lack of access to these products. … Providing tampons and pads is about equity and social justice. We provide toilet paper in the bathrooms of schools and tampons should be no different.”

This legislation does create a reimbursable state mandate to schools with one-time costs to install dispensers, along with annual reimbursable costs to keep the dispensers stocked. This bill will affect approximately 3,000 school sites. After full implementation, it is expected that school districts will file a mandate test claim for reimbursement of actual costs and for potential inclusion in the mandate block grant.

UpcomingEvents info: 800-266-3382
Register for any of these events at www.csba.org/TrainingAndEvents.
March 16–17, 2018| El Centro
MIG Courses
March 23–24, 2018 | El Centro
MIG Courses
March 23–24, 2018 | Woodland
County Board Advanced Governance Workshop
April 16, 2018 – San Jose
2018 CSBA Training For Executive Assistants
April 21, 2018 – El Centro
MIG Course 5
April 24, 2018 – Sacramento
2018 CSBA Training For Executive Assistants
July 13–14, 2018 – San Francisco
Leadership Institute
Thanks for reading our March 2018 newsletter!