Another new opportunity saw CSBA Governmental Relations Chief Patrick O’Donnell, Legislative Director Chris Reefe and External Affairs Director Raquel Maden share with attendees the intricacies of effective political advocacy during the Advanced Advocacy and Legislative Leadership Seminar.

I was honored to help open the conference with a brief address, along with remarks from CSBA CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy and our new Director of County Board Member Services Mike Walsh. This was followed by attending and learning from sessions focused on five main concepts: advocacy and community engagement; the legal duties of county boards; funding, finance and human capital; shared governance; and wellness, safety and learning.

After an emotionally tolling few years for education systems, Dr. Laurie Santos will kick the event off on a positive note at the First General Session by sharing practical insights and strategies on increasing happiness, reducing stress and flourishing in life.

During the session, audience members requested a document they could use to combat myths about EWH. In response, CSBA has created “Education Workforce Housing in California: Myths and Facts” to allow local educational agencies to demonstrate the benefits of EWH and dispel myths. A sample of the document follows, and the full document can be found at csba.org/workforcehousing under Projects and Case Studies.

AI’s ability to generate content has the potential to create new student learning opportunities, assist educators in customizing lessons tailored to each student and provide greater access to students with disabilities. However, this generative capacity also has the risk of potential abuse, plagiarism, trademark infringement and biases. For boards, employee and student technology use agreements are important tools to ensure that local educational agencies are taking advantage of the benefits of technology, including AI, while also protecting students and staff.

In response to changes made to California Education Code (EC) Section 52064.4 over the past year by the passage of Senate Bill 153, the board adopted revisions to the instructions for the LCAP and Annual Update template for the 2025–26 through 2027–28 LCAP years.

Researchers concluded, however, there are still steps that education and state officials can take to mitigate the effects of outside variables on children once they’re at school.

“As a Yolo County board of education trustee, I am proud to celebrate Yolo COE’s launch of the School Resiliency and Sustainability Project — the first of its kind in the nation,” said Board Vice President Armando Salud-Ambriz. “By operating an independent microgrid, we are leading the way in sustainable energy and school resiliency, thanks to the dedication of our team and partners, such as Syserco Energy Solutions.”