• Held a virtual Legislative Action Week in March with a record-breaking 370 LEA board members. Members met with nearly 100 legislators to advocate on issues including, but not limited to: the state budget, broadband connectivity and limited liability from COVID-19 claims.
• Helped secure $6 billion in state funding for increased broadband access in unserved and underserved areas of the state — an issue CSBA had been at the vanguard of advocating for since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.
• Secured the support of the Newsom Administration and Legislature in providing COVID-relief funding from Assembly Bill 86 to all school districts and county offices, including those that had already opened for in-person instruction prior to the bill’s introduction and adoption.
• Successfully advocated for CSBA priorities in the state budget, including:
  • Elimination of all apportionment deferrals
  • Full two-year enhanced compounded cost-of-living adjustment (5.07 percent) for the Local Control Funding Formula
  • Two-year COLA (4.05 percent) for special education
  • Protected funding for an additional year of reduction in school employer pension contribution rates
• Protected the integrity of Proposition 98 by securing an increase in the guarantee to reflect additional students being added into the public school system through the expansion of transitional kindergarten.
• Lobbied successfully in Washington, D.C. for the inclusion of schools in federal stimulus bills and for the expansion of the school nutrition program to cover students at home during school shutdowns.

• Developed the multimedia School Boards in Action campaign to document the extraordinary measures trustees have taken to allow for high-quality education during the pandemic and to provide for students’ physical and mental health. Campaign components included:

  • A landing page on CSBA’s website
  • A series of advertisements played more than 135,000 times on terrestrial and satellite radio.
  • Video series: Board Member Stories
  • Blog series examining ways in which LEAs are supporting students during the pandemic
  • Standalone e-blasts
  • Digital display advertisements
  • Social media advertisements (250,210 impressions)
• Produced more than 20 webinars on topics including:
  • State budget
  • School reopening
  • Extended learning
  • Broadband access
  • COVID-19 mitigation practices
  • Board meeting management and community engagement
  • Summer programs
  • Crisis communication strategies
• Informed membership of major developments affecting public schools
  through four issues of California Schools magazine; 11 newsletters; 49 weekly update eblasts; 245 Daily News Roundup eblasts; and more than 200 blog posts.

• Published a total of 125 new and updated policies, regulations, exhibits and board bylaws in 2021. A special policy packet on independent study was released in July, in addition to quarterly packets from March, June, September and December relating to:
  • • Preschool early childhood programs
    • Transitional kindergarten
    • Uniform complaint procedures
    • Suicide prevention
    • District police
    • Use of force
    • School resource officers
    • Hate-motivated behavior
    • Non-discrimination/harassment
    • Before- and after-school programs
    • Student board members
• Developed a Delegate Assembly Report and Resources Guide describing evidence-based best practices on key issues identified by Delegates. Topics included:
  • • Mental and social-emotional health of students and staff
    • Professional development/new hire training
    • Use of one-time funds
    • Learning recovery
    • Program delivery
    • Planning and implementation for in-person instruction
• Produced briefs on strategies for supporting student achievement, safety, and physical and mental health, including:
  • • Challenging and Supporting English Learners in STEM Learning at a Distance
    • Supporting California Students in a Time of Crisis
    • Understanding and Addressing Disruptions to Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    • Asian American and Pacific Islander Students in Focus: Demographics and Enrollment Data
    • AAPI Students in Focus: Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Coordinated Policy Development Workshops for 39 LEAs to update and overhaul their policy manuals.
• Released CSBA’s first e-book available for purchase in the Amazon Kindle store, Charter Schools: A Guide for Governance Teams, an update to the 2016 Charter Schools Manual, that addresses changes to education code following the passage of bills such as Assembly Bills 1505 and 1507.
• Received significant grants including:
• • • Two grants from the Stuart Foundation to further CSBA’s work on equity issues for 2021 and 2022.
    • A donation of from Zoom CEO and founder Eric Yuan for use by the California County Boards of Education for the Computer Science Education Project.
    • A grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to help build California districts’ capacity to develop educator workforce housing.

CSBA’s Education Legal Alliance took direct action to support members on a range of important issues, including:

State funding

• • Challenged guidance from the State Controller and the calculation of Education Revenue Augmentation Funds (ERAF) in five counties that result in a loss of education funding of approximately $1 billion dollars over a three-year period, plus untold future loss. (CSBA v. Betty Yee)
  • Participated in more than a dozen cases before superior courts in Sacramento and Los Angeles counties; the First, Second and Third Districts of the California Court of Appeals; the California Supreme Court; the Federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and the U.S. Supreme Court to advocate for the interests of CSBA members, saving millions of dollars in school funding for school districts and county offices of education

  • Fought for the interests of LEAs by filing amicus briefs and letters in support of districts of county offices of education involved in litigation matters of statewide importance. These cases address myriad issues affecting CSBA’s members, including:

    • Defending districts from expanded tort liability for disability claims under the Unruh Act (Brennon B. v. West Contra Costa Unified School District)

    • Protecting confidential privileged communications (Los Angeles Unified School District, et al. v. Los Angeles County Superior Court)

    • Fighting erosion of the unfunded mandate reimbursement system by the Commission on State Mandates (San Diego Unified School District, et al. v. State of California and Coast Community College District, et al. v. Commission on State Mandates, et al.)

    • Advocating that procedural violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are not per se denials of free appropriate public education (FAPE) when they do not result in the denial of an educational benefit (D.O. v. Escondido Union School District)

  • Authored numerous articles on pressing legal topics in CSBA periodicals, including:
    • Litigation and school districts: Providing FAPE amid the COVID-19 pandemic 
    • New Cal/OSHA emergency COVID-19 regulations create additional requirements
    • Updated Guide to Reporting Gifts, Honoraria and Travel Payments
    • COVID-19 vaccines for students 
    • Ninth Circuit holds in favor of school district in First Amendment case 
    • What will governing board meetings look like after the pandemic? 
    • Certification of class-action status of nonclassroom-based charter schools in Reyes v. State of California
    • LEAs should continue to use CDPH’s graduation ceremony guidance
    • U.S. Supreme Court affirms school violated student’s First Amendment rights, but allows schools to regulate off-campus speech under certain circumstances 
    • Independent study provisions for the 2021–22 school year 
    • Ninth Circuit upholds closure of public schools during pandemic, but finds state infringed on rights of private school students 
    • “Meeting” under the Brown Act 
    • Governor signs AB 361 allowing for virtual board meetings 
    • U.S. Department of Education clarifies Title IX enforcement 
    • Q&A: An in-depth look at AB 361 and virtual board meetings 
    • U.S. Supreme Court to rule on case regarding censure of elected board members 
    • Authorizing school districts reach repayment settlement in charter school fraud case 
    • Gov. Gavin Newsom issues executive order setting expiration dates for previous COVID-19-related executive order provisions 
    • Assembly Bill 130 allocates funding for special education disputes 
    • AB 1316 would make sweeping changes to charter school oversight requirements 
    • Pros and cons of Project Labor Agreements 
  • Led webinars, trainings and regional meetings that covered the following topics:
    • Masks, independent study, back-to-school safety
    • How to maintain decorum & civility in school board meetings
    • Governing in a Time of Chaos: Board Meetings in the age of COVID and CRT 
    • Mask mandates and vaccinations
    • Brown Act

District & County Office of Education Legal Services

• • • Launched a new service to provide CSBA members direct access to cost-effective legal advice from CSBA attorneys
      • CSBA attorneys began offering research assistance on local legal issues, responding to questions that require the preparation of memoranda or legal opinion, conducting discreet investigations, providing direct representation to LEAs, and evaluating discrimination, sexual harassment and conflict-of-interest claims.
    • Developed a searchable online Legal Resource Library with self-help legal updates; guidance documents and templates; and a database containing more than 5,000 collective bargaining agreements, salary schedules and MOUs to aid subscribers in their negotiations.