Back-to-school season is an exciting time for all in the school community as a new academic year brings opportunities and challenges for students, staff and governance teams alike. CSBA has created this Back-to-School Digest to provide essential resources and critical information school boards and superintendents can use to jumpstart the new year and navigate some of the most pressing topics facing public education.
This resource contains a selection of relevant work from CSBA’s Research and Education Policy Development (REPD), Policy and Governance Technology Services, Legal and Communications departments on topics such as school safety, funding and finance, curriculum and instruction, the state budget, compliance with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, good governance practices, the California Mathematics Framework, artificial intelligence, chronic absenteeism and more.
CSBA hopes this resource helps governance teams in their efforts to ensure students, staff and families have a productive and enjoyable 2025–26 school year.
Budget resources
Communicating the financial pressures local educational agencies face and how those constraints impact efforts to serve students is crucial to gaining community buy-in for an LEA’s vision and educational programs. This customizable PowerPoint template can be used to help students, staff and communities understand an LEA’s budget, as well as the factors impacting it on the local, state and federal levels.
School safety
Safe, supportive schools are a prerequisite for consistently high levels of learning and growth. CSBA’s Safe Schools Toolkit is a digital, downloadable resource designed to guide governance teams in their decision-making processes regarding school safety. It covers a wide range of topics including comprehensive school safety plans, behavioral threat assessment, school infrastructure, sexual violence prevention, bullying and cyberbullying, and crisis communications.
Supporting a Positive School Climate
This research brief provides information on how school boards can use targeted governance strategies to foster positive school culture. It examines components and best practices of a positive school climate, sample questions for board members, and relevant sample policies related to strong and nurturing school climates.
Governance
On June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court released its opinion in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which held that the First Amendment required a school district to provide parents/guardians with notice and the ability to opt their children out of instruction involving LGBTQ+ storybooks. Read more about the policy implications here.
- In response to learning that some LEAs expect a high volume of opt-out requests based on the decision, CSBA offers a few key considerations for creating opt-out procedures and forms: Navigating opt-out requests in light of Mahmoud v. Taylor.
Governance in Chaos: Managing Board Meetings in Turbulent Times
Many governance teams are struggling to manage meetings as tensions boil over on sensitive issues. This publication offers information and guidance about handling chaotic board meetings, holding productive board meetings and setting policy in difficult times so boards can better perform their essential duties for students, families and communities.
Curriculum and instruction
Instructional materials
This brief provides an overview of the board’s role in approving instructional materials, including information about standards and frameworks, the state role and the local role.
Mathematics
This research brief is designed to help school board members and superintendents engage in meaningful discussions about the 2023 California Mathematics Framework regarding curriculum adoption, technology integration and instructional decision-making, while considering the impact of emerging technologies, professional learning needs and student equity.
This brief, co-authored with the Learning Policy Institute, examines the instructional changes needed to align with the 2023 Math Framework and the role local governance teams play in providing effective professional development opportunities to teachers and staff.
Defining High-Quality Instructional Materials for Mathematics to Meet the Needs of English Learners
This research brief is meant to guide governance teams as they seek to define, adopt and implement high-quality math instructional materials that are aligned to the 2023 California Mathematics Framework and meet the needs of English learner students.
Artificial intelligence
In a meeting with CSBA’s AI Taskforce: Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Stanford University’s Deliberative Democracy Lab and student researchers agreed to publish their findings on student and educator perspectives on artificial intelligence (AI) in education. The resulting fact sheets aim to provide governance teams with the perspectives of those affected most by this technology — students and educators.
Students’ Perspectives on AI in Education
This fact sheet covers students’ perspectives on this expanding technology and considers the use of AI tools in schools, the potential for plagiarism, AI’s impact on critical-thinking skills and how AI can be leveraged responsibly for educational benefit.
Educators’ Perspectives on AI in Education
This fact sheet covers educator perspectives on this expanding technology in the same areas as above.
Check out all of the CSBA AI Taskforce work, including resources and news, scenarios and LEA resolution, promising practices and policies and a series of webinars here.
Student support
Immigration
Frequently Asked Questions: Immigration Enforcement in California Public Schools
This FAQ document addresses key issues related to immigration enforcement at California public schools and is organized by subject matter for ease of use by school board members, faculty and staff. This FAQ does not constitute or substitute for legal advice, and LEAs should always consult legal counsel with specific legal questions.
CSBA’s Immigration Legal Guidance was written to give governing boards clarity regarding their responsibilities under federal and state immigration law as of December 2024. If and when federal authorities implement legal or policy changes that affect CSBA members, CSBA will provide timely updates to reflect the new landscape for immigration enforcement and public schools.
Immigration Policy and Resources Webinar
In this January 2025 webinar, CSBA’s Legal and Policy staff reviewed all aspects of immigration policy related to California public schools with particular attention to executive orders and new legislation at the state and federal levels.
Attendance
Seize the Data: Using Chronic Absence Data to Drive Student Engagement
In this brief, CSBA and Attendance Works examine the state of chronic absenteeism in California and which student groups are disproportionately impacted, present questions for board members to ask when assessing chronic absenteeism and offer strategies and resources to address the issue.
Discipline
Practical Steps Toward Advancing Equitable and Supportive Discipline
In this guide, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and UC Berkeley’s California Race, Education, and Community Healing (REACH) Network highlight the role of school boards in equitable discipline practices, outlining key decisions for boards to consider and questions for trustees to ask to learn more about discipline at school sites.
Late start
Waking up to Reality: The Unintended Consequences of Mandated Later School Start Times in California
This research report examines the impact of California’s mandated late start times for secondary schools and offers policy recommendations for state and LEA leaders to mitigate the law’s unintended consequences. It presents findings from focus groups, in-depth interviews with LEA leaders and statewide survey responses.
LGBTQ+ students
LGBTQ+ Students in Focus: Demographics and Academic Achievement
CSBA’s Students in Focus series features briefs and fact sheets designed to help governance teams conduct informed discussions on the educational needs of various student groups. The LGBTQ+ Students in Focus: Demographics and Academic Achievement brief analyzes data for this student group on enrollment and demographics, chronic absenteeism, rates of discipline, and academic achievement and attainment. It also includes questions for governance teams to consider when making decisions on policies and practices impacting LGBTQ+ students and their families.
The examples above are just a small selection of the many resources CSBA offers to support board members in their crucial governance work. Find additional research, policy information, training opportunities and more at csba.org.
