Welcome back to the LP School Board Download – our newsletter about all things school board!Â
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We know this has been an incredibly tough week as we enter another Trump presidency. Know that Local Progress is working to help school board members navigate these next four years. Please don’t hesitate to get in-touch or to contact our Help Desk for specific questions and issues.Â
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You can find our recent press statement here on Trump’s first week executive orders, which calls out the cruelty, racism, and greed behind this administration’s actions. You can also find analysis and summaries of the Executive Actions (EOs) from Democracy 2025. Specifically on immigration, The Immigration Hub put together this write-up with some analysis.Â
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It is important to note that nearly all of these EOs will be subject to legal challenges, so it is difficult to say what the impact of these EOs will be. Like the last Trump Administration, we anticipate that much of the litigation will be successful. LP is working to understand what legal challenges we may pursue with our partner organizations related to the withholding of federal funding from sanctuary cities or school districts that support transgender youth, for example.
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I know many of you have particular concerns about federal actions or potential legislation targeting our LGBTQIA+ students, immigrant students, and school district funding. This week’s announcement that the Department of Homeland Security is revoking schools as “sensitive locations” and Trump’s executive order banning federal funding for institutions that acknowledge trans and non-binary people are particularly distressing. Please know that we are hard at work to analyze these developments and will be in touch frequently with updates and action steps that local elected officials can take to protect their communities.Â
Resources To Defend Our Local Communities Against Hostile Federal ActionsÂ
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🏛️ Protecting Our Community and Fighting For Democracy: In the wake of Donald Trump’s reelection, LP’s team put together a resource to equip our members with tools and information about how to protect our immigrant neighbors, safeguard our democracy, and advance gender justice. Know this is just the first of many resources we’re putting together to help you as we all navigate the next four years together. On February 20, LP is hosting a session specifically for school board members on this topic. More specifics and sign up link to come.
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🗓️ Solidarity 2025: Our partners at HEAL Together have kicked off Solidarity 2025 – an eight-week training series designed to equip activist parents, educators, school board members, students, and allies to unite against the attacks on public education outlined in Project 2025. The training series is part of the Public School Strong campaign and is designed to empower participants to advocate for students, schools, and communities at local school boards and beyond. Participants will gain critical insights into federal policy proposals, actionable strategies for mobilizing around shared values, and tools like model policies, school board resolutions, and organizing lessons.Â
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LP will be presenting on January 29 but we encourage you to sign up for any of the sessions that you think would be helpful. Register here.
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📝 How To Understand the McKinney-Vento Act. Did you know that your school district is required to have a staff liaison to support students experiencing housing insecurity? This fall we released a new school board resource – Unpacking McKinney-Vento: Understanding Your School District’s Obligation To Students Experiencing Homelessness – which breaks down the federal policy in place to ensure all students, specifically those experiencing housing insecurity, have access to a public education.Â
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Other Local and National Developments
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LA Fires and impact on districts. School is mostly back in session in southern California. But after weeks of devastating wildfires that destroyed homes, schools, and entire communities, some districts are still dealing with lingering questions about what comes next, including Pasadena Unified School District, LA Unified School District and Malibu Unified School District. School districts with missed days due to the fire won’t have to make them up per executive order from Gov. Newsom’s office.
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If you’re interested in supporting students and educators impacted by these fires the United Teachers Los Angeles has a mutual aid fund. You can also donate to school district foundation funds, including the one in Pasadena Unified School District and in LA Unified School District.
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Chicago swears in its first elected school board Decades of organizing has finally led to Chicago Public Schools being governed by a partially elected, instead of a fully mayoral-appointed, board of directors. The decades of organizing to transition to a more representative board was led by many CPS parents as well as the Chicago Teachers Union. The 21-member board, 10 of whom were elected in November 2024, is the largest school board in the country.
One of the best parts of being an LP member is the community that comes with this network, especially in this moment.
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In December, more than 75 California school board members came together for an offsite happy hour at the California School Boards Association annual conference. We were so excited to convene a space for like-minded school board members to meet and exchange ideas.Â
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Big thank you to our partner Education Justice Academy for co-hosting and to LP members Kelly Kent, formerly Culver City Unified School District, and Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez, formerly Azusa Unified School District, for anchoring the evening’s programming. In the coming weeks, we will host more programming and resources to aid California school board members in their leadership and governance.
In December 2024, the Wilkinsburg Pennsylvania school board unanimously passed a sanctuary schools resolution in an effort to solidify protections for immigrant students against federal immigration authorities. Amanda Barber, Board President and Local Progress Member, was a vocal advocate of getting the resolution passed. During this uncertain time, having clear and brave leadership from school board is essential to helping out communities feel safe and secure.Â
You can see a copy of the resolution here.Â
We know that the Wilkinsburg School District is just one of many school boards that are working to put policies and protections in place for students, teachers and families. Are you proud of a policy or work you’re doing for students and teachers? We want to know! Please don’t hesitate to let us know about the good work you’re doing in your communities.
