Raging wildfires, smoky skies the latest obstacles for schools in 2020

The barrage of deadly wildfires burning up and down the state of California — and corresponding surreal skies and extremely unhealthy air — have destroyed schools and communities; displaced students, staff and their families; and interrupted long-planned-for returns to in-person instruction in many areas, a […]

State Board: Leaders address immensely challenging times; criteria approved for Seal of Civic Engagement

State education leaders opened Thursday, Sept. 10’s State Board of Education meeting by pledging their support for K–12 schools and communities across the state and recognizing the heroic work of local educational agencies in a monumentally challenging school year. While the scramble continues to close […]

CDE webinar offers insights into new guidance, fields key COVID questions

A Sept. 9 California Department of Education webinar drawing 1,300 attendees provided local educational agencies with clarity on updated guidance for in-person, small group instruction, as well as a deeper dive into the Blueprint for a Safer Economy and its impacts on K–12 schools. Officials […]

Appellate Court rules Santa Monica’s at-large election method did not violate the CVRA

On July 9, 2020, a California Court of Appeal ruled that the City of Santa Monica’s use of an at-large election method did not violate the California Voting Rights Act in Pico Neighborhood Association v. City of Santa Monica. This is the first time a […]

State releases updated guidance on in-person, small group instruction

On Friday, Sept. 4, the California Department of  Public Health unveiled updated guidance on providing in-person instruction to small groups of students. The release, which came on the eve of Labor Day weekend, modified guidance introduced on Aug. 25. Among other, more modest changes, the […]

COVID-19 has chilling effect on vaccination rates for other diseases

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccination dose orders declined from mid-March, the beginning of the emergency declaration due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to mid-April by 2.5 million compared to previous years. In a report issued May 18, the agency wrote, “The […]

U.S. Department of Homeland Security memo limits DACA program again after Supreme Court decision

On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision in University of California v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security that the Trump administration may not immediately proceed with its plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The […]