New tools available to support community school development and sustainability

Comprehensive community schools are needed now more than ever, according to experts who spoke during a Jan. 12 webinar hosted by the Center for Universal Education to launch the Community Schools Forward Task Force’s essential community school resources. In light of the immediate and lingering […]

Sudden cardiac arrest in student athletes: What are schools’ responsibilities?

There is renewed attention on how quickly the health of athletes can change following the on-field collapse of NFL player Damar Hamlin on Jan. 2, when the Buffalo Bills safety suffered cardiac arrest during a game. In Hamlin’s case, those on the scene quickly sprung […]

Schools play key role in supporting homeless students — if they can identify them

School districts are key to supporting homeless students and helping them overcome the challenges they face, however, this population is typically undercounted due to difficulties related to identification, according to the report Supporting students experiencing homelessness: District approaches to supports and funding, released by the […]

Schools play an important role in prevention and awareness of the fentanyl crisis

Headlines involving young people overdosing on opioids, sometimes while on school campuses, have become all too frequent. On Nov. 15, the California Department of Education hosted a webinar with guidance for schools regarding the opioid crisis. An example shared by CDE’s Deputy Superintendent of Operations […]

Low-income youth need expanded access to Medicaid services

The state Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) must do more to ensure children in the California Medical Assistance Program (Medi‑Cal) receive preventive health services, according to a Sept. 13 report from the California State Auditor’s office. Schools can play a significant role in accomplishing this. […]

Out-of-school suspension trends and disparities explored in new report

Removing students from the classroom through exclusionary discipline practices like suspensions and expulsions has been proven to negatively impact academic achievement and disproportionately effect specific groups including students of color, low-income children, LGBTQ youth, males and students with disabilities. Following decades where a zero-tolerance approach […]

Supporting students in foster care requires time and resources

California’s Students in Foster Care: Challenges and Promising Practices, a report released by the Learning Policy Institute in July 2022, considers statewide pre-pandemic education data and conversations with county offices of education foster youth services coordinators to find promising practices that can implemented. In 2018–19, […]

LEAs, federal leaders share how they’re addressing youth mental health

“Addressing the Student Mental Health Crisis,” a webinar hosted by the Healthy Schools Campaign on Sept. 14, showcased how some local educational agencies are handling the challenge as well as what’s being done at the federal level. “The last two-and-a-half years have been intensely difficult […]