Research shows that parent engagement efforts have profound and positive effects on a student’s scholastic experience. Schools that prioritize strategic parent engagement see gains in student achievement that correlate with the level of parental participation. This is doubly true now that barriers associated with distance learning have deprived many students of in-person instruction.

CSBA’s 2020 AEC will be an entirely virtual experience that gives attendees access to critical expertise and perspective from the comfort of their home or office. The virtual conference will take place from Thursday, Dec. 3 to Friday, Dec. 4. The virtual platform allows for more flexibility for preconference activities, which will take place over three days — rather than the traditional one day before conference — from Monday, Nov. 30 to Wednesday, Dec. 2. This new schedule provides members with the flexibility to attend more than one preconference activity.

While the immediate focus of the new school year has been on protecting students from the transmission of COVID-19, board members should also be mindful of how the pandemic has exacerbated economic hardship for families, including housing strain, which was a statewide crisis even before COVID-19. Now experts are predicting an “eviction cliff” this fall, and research shows that Latino, African American and immigrant families are twice as likely to be evicted as white families due to higher job losses and a higher percentage of families who rent rather than own their home. According to UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation, nearly 1 million renter households in the state include someone who has lost a job because of the pandemic, and almost half of renter households — 422,000 — are families with children. Potential increases in homelessness will likely impact schools’ efforts to identify and serve this vulnerable student population.

The obligations of local educational agencies to ensure that homeless students have equal access to the educational program are detailed in the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Requirements of the Act include giving a housing questionnaire to all parents/guardians during school registration, including the district liaison’s contact information on district and school websites, providing staff professional development on the definition and signs of homelessness, and contacting appropriate local agencies to coordinate referrals for homeless children and unaccompanied youth. For further information about the requirements, see CSBA’s sample board policy and administrative regulation BP/AR 6173 – Education for Homeless Children and the summer issue of California Schools magazine.

As COVID-19 has impacted operations for a lot of things, it didn’t stop the California County Boards of Education Board of Directors and Executive Board members from attending the annual retreat — virtually. Twenty-four members attended the event to brainstorm key tasks for next year and building up the organization.

The retreat kicked off on Friday afternoon with the Executive Board meeting. Friday evening brought the BOD together for an opportunity to get to know each other and share their desired outcomes for the weekend. Members were sent their own CCBE coffee mugs and cookies with the logo on them as part of the Friday get-together.

During the main portion of the retreat, the team looked at key tasks and strategic planning for the next year. The areas of focus were budgets, advocacy, regional visits and build-ing relationships with other organizations. Wonderful ideas and concepts were shared, and a task list was built for everyone to work on. Specific items included increasing CCBE marketing efforts with a video from the CCBE President sharing membership benefits and the direction of the organization, how to improve advocacy and work more with CSBA’s PACERs (Public Affairs & Community Engagement Representatives), virtual regional visits and ways to mentor future leaders of CCBE.