

The plan, called the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, establishes four categories to indicate the severity of COVID-19 spread in California. Each of the state’s counties are placed in one of four color-coded categories — purple, red, orange or yellow — in order from highest to lowest risk. Purple counties, which are essentially counties that were on the prior state “monitoring list,” are considered at highest risk and have the most restrictions. Local educational agencies in the purple tier are not allowed to open for in-person instruction, but are eligible to apply for an elementary school waiver, provided they work with their county public health department and submit a safety plan.
The new plan requires each county to stay in its tier for at least three weeks. To move into another tier, counties must meet that tier’s criteria for the prior two consecutive weeks. New assessments will be performed weekly on Tuesdays. It’s important to note that the standards for an individual county may exceed those in the state’s framework.
“Local educational agencies are reminded that all CSBA sample policies are intended to serve as templates, and districts are encouraged to give thoughtful consideration to revising the policies to meet local needs,” said Diane Greene, senior policy services consultant at CSBA. “In the case of suicide prevention policies, the law mandates that districts work with specified stakeholders to develop strategies tailored to their local circumstances. Although all districts should already have suicide prevention policies in place, the requirement to engage stakeholders applies to policy revisions as well.”

Troy Flint | tflint@csba.org
Managing Editor:
Kimberly Sellery | ksellery@csba.org
Marketing Director:
Serina Pruitt | spruitt@csba.org
Staff Writers and Contributors:
Andrew Cummins | acummins@csba.org
Alisha Kirby | akirby@csba.org
Mike Ambrose | mambrose@csba.org
Diane Greene | dgreene@csba.org
Graphic Design Manager:
Kerry Macklin | kmacklin@csba.org
Senior Graphic Designer:
Mauricio Miranda | mmiranda@csba.org
Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez | Azusa USD
President-elect:
Suzanne Kitchens | Pleasant Valley SD
Vice President:
Susan Heredia | Natomas USD
Immediate Past President:
Emma Turner | La Mesa-Spring Valley SD
CEO & Executive Director:
Vernon M. Billy
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.


As school board members, we have a unique responsibility to create conditions that help produce informed and engaged students who will strengthen their communities and their country. The California Department of Education had similar goals in mind when it launched the State Seal of Civic Engagement, a new tool for encouraging students to learn about civics and apply that knowledge in the real world. In order to earn the seal, students must participate in civics-related projects and contribute to their communities, as well as demonstrate an understanding of the California Constitution, the United States Constitution and the American governance system.

After an extraordinary 2019–20 legislative session marked by unprecedented closures, delays and a tight focus on the state’s COVID-19 response, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 41 new bills affecting K-12 education into law. While schools received some clarity and support on funding and flexibility during the state of emergency, pressing questions on school liability and the digital divide remain unresolved.
In March, the Governor and Legislature provided emergency relief to local educational agencies with Senate Bill 117. The bill provided $100 million to LEAs to purchase personal protective equipment and pay for supplies and labor costs related to cleaning school facilities, ensured that they would continue to receive funding despite school closures, and granted flexibility in providing services to students during this crisis. In June, an education budget trailer bill, SB 98, eliminated the unworkable 10 percent cut to the Local Control Funding Formula proposed in the May Budget Revision, held LEA funding at 2019–20 levels with a new round of apportionment deferrals, and included more than $5 billion in one-time funding from the state’s share of federal CARES Act stimulus funding. The budget also included a reduction in employer pension contribution rates by some 2 percentage points for the 2020–21 fiscal year.
The stark and desolate scenes have become all too familiar over the last several years, and two months remain in an already record-breaking 2020 wildfire season.
Just two years after the catastrophic Camp Fire ripped through Paradise and its surrounding communities, leaving 86 dead and thousands displaced, Butte County this year encountered another deadly blaze not far from the site of 2018’s destruction. As of Sept. 28, the North Complex Fire had burned 306,135 acres and left at least 15 dead.
GovernanceCorner Practical tips from our MIG faculty
Boards can also establish common agreements about how to discuss data, including how to ask relevant questions. County and district board members can use meeting time to discuss what the data indicates about local educational agency progress and how to respond appropriately. These board protocols include monitoring data to determine progress, using data to discuss program issues as needed, understanding the root causes of problems and for considering the context and meaning of the data.Following are questions boards can ask themselves about how they use data:
Boards can receive updates about the COVID-19 pandemic without violating the Brown Act

Qualified individuals interested in being nominated from the floor of the Delegate Assembly for either President-elect or Vice President must submit a complete Declaration of Candidacy packet along with their written intention to run on or before Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020. Intentions to run from the floor and the packet must be submitted to President Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez at xcruz-gonzalez@csba.org, and the Nominating Committee Chair Christina Lucero at clucero214@bpusd.net.

While the adoption of the FAIR Education Act was a victory, there is still much work to be done, said Rick Oculto, education director of the Our Family Coalition — an organization that advocates for equity for LGBTQ families and children through support and education. Through the lens of October’s LGBTQ History Month, Oculto said it’s important that local educational agencies do not place the implementation of the curriculum or the necessary teacher training on the backburner.

“We recognize for those kids that they need extra support and extra care, both from their caregivers and, if necessary, from a health or mental health provider,” Burke-Harris said.
One of the highlights of AEC is the always dynamic and inspiring General Session speakers. This year’s speakers are Jason Dorsey, president of the Center for Generational Kinetics; Hadi Partovi, CEO of the education nonprofit Code.org, tech entrepreneur and investor; and Leslie Odom Jr., multifaceted Tony and Grammy Award-winning performer.

While the scramble continues to close the digital divide, improve distance learning and, in some areas, keep students and staff healthy on campus, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said the annual arrival of widespread destructive wildfires and smoky skies only adds to the collective challenges facing LEAs. “To see, as our schools finally are in a place where they can open — some in-person, most in distance learning — and to add to it fires and issues with air quality on top of that … Our schools are dealing with the most difficult circumstances,” Thurmond said.
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