PHOTO FROM THE 2023 CUBE CONFERENCE.
PHOTO CREDIT: ILIAN RIVERA

Supporting the mental health of students (and school board members) and collaborating with partners to ensure a strong equity foundation, even in the face of anti-equity efforts, are among the topics taking center stage during NSBA’s Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) 2024 Conference in Las Vegas, Oct. 28 to Oct. 30. Now in its 56th year, CUBE continues to convene educational leaders from across the nation to exchange successful program practices, be inspired by insightful speakers, and network with peers who share similar goals and challenges. Conference attendees are working to ensure improved outcomes for historically underresourced, underrepresented, and vulnerable children.

A highlight of the CUBE Conference is the steering committee chair’s address on the State of Urban Education and the presentation of the annual CUBE Awards—the Benjamin Elijah Mays Lifetime Achievement Award and the CUBE Annual Award for Urban School Board Excellence. The Mays Award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to the educational needs of urban schoolchildren through their service as a local school board member. CUBE’s Urban School Board Excellence Award focuses on governance, honoring school boards that show growth, innovation through policy, and a willingness to be exemplars to other urban boards. ASBJ will profile both 2024 honorees in a future issue.

The awards and the State of Urban Education Address will be presented during the CUBE Awards Luncheon, sponsored by the U.S. Army, Tuesday, Oct. 29. Here is a preview of some of the educational sessions at this year’s conference. There is still time to register. For details, visit https://www.nsba.org/Events/CUBE-2024-Annual-Conference.

Data-driven work

Early Detection, Early Intervention: The Power of Universal Screening in Schools delves into the critical role of universal screening in the early detection of students’ needs, both academic and socioeconomic, and providing timely interventions and supports. The “goal” is to be conducting these screenings “every year for every student,” but too often, they are employed only after the discovery of a problem or following the onset of some trauma, says presenter Marsha Herron, director of student and organizational success for the Oklahoma State School Boards Association. “Prevention is where the work should be. If we can predict and prevent, that will be great,” she says.

Herron says she often reminds school trustees “that it is well within your rights to ask questions about student data that is collected” by the district. Without that information, “you can’t tell the story of the children that you’re representing, and that’s problematic.” Often, she says, school trustees run on platforms promising to do this or the other, “but do you really know what issues exist in the community?” Are those needs related to food insecurity, health care access, academic supports, or afterschool programming, for example? “What I’m asking them to do is to really think about data and how that data drives the practices that your schools engage in. Data tells you the story of what’s going on. And then you can decide what you do with that story.”

Michael Dodge, a board trainer with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, and Stefania Raschilla, superintendent of Massachusetts’ West Springfield Public Schools, will share case studies and hands-on activities in their interactive presentation, Unveiling the Path to Equitable Education: Empowering K-12 Schools through Equity Audits. These systemic evaluations of policies, practices, and culture go beyond surface-level assessments to help identify and address disparities in student outcomes within school districts. They are crucial to promoting equity, identifying systemic barriers, and fostering inclusive learning environments within schools, according to Dodge and Raschilla, who offered guidance on starting an equity audit in their August ASBJ article “Monitoring Equity Progress.” 

Expanding well-being

Universal mental health screening, in conjunction with an evidence-informed intervention curriculum focusing on immigrant and refugee youth, is central to the work to be presented in the session entitled Nurturing New Arrival Students: A Holistic Approach to Mental Health and Community Support. The mental health and well-being of students, including those who are new to the country, has been a top priority for Colorado’s Denver Public Schools (DPS), says Meredith Fatseas, director of mental health.

Although faced with the funding challenges that this work presents to school districts across the country, through a coordinated effort within DPS and across different teams, and with the support of community partners and city leaders, the school system continues to put in place critical resources “to address the multifaceted needs of our student body,” Fatseas says. According to the Denver Post, the city of Denver received more new-to-country students per capita in 2023 than any other large U.S. city not along the southern border with Mexico. DPS enrolled approximately 3,900 newcomer students last school year and expects to enroll a similar number this year.

“When people are in any sort of transition, particularly being uprooted from what you know and your culture, and there are language barriers and all of these kinds of things, the number of stressors in families and in kids’ lives is large,” Fatseas says. Students’ varied responses to these stressors emphasize the need for schools to come together to create environments that are “welcoming communities and that are able to provide early intervention.”

Adoption of the “Supporting Transition Resilience of Newcomer Groups (STRONG)” curriculum is a central resource in the district’s intervention, along with the training of 400 mental health staff in the curriculum, professional learning for teachers and other staff, and partnering with community organizations to serve newcomer families in a culturally responsive and affirming manner. 

“When I think about new arrival families and the complexity of their circumstances and their situations, some having walked across multiple countries, and some having observed hard and difficult things along the way, and this could be young children who’ve observed this, being able to be responsive to their needs, has been key,” adds Adella Arrendondo, executive director of the district’s family and community engagement department.

If you’re not paying attention to the emotional health and well-being of school board members, you should be, says presenter Courtney Graves, a licensed professional counselor and school board director for Missouri’s Ferguson-Florissant School District. In Thriving Under Pressure: Managing Trauma and Triggers as a School Board Director, Graves will highlight the importance of safe spaces for board member discussions, de-stressing, and self-care for district leadership.

As a therapist and past board president, Graves says, “a lot of my time was spent making sure everybody was okay, monitoring people, looking at facial expressions,” especially during challenging board discussions. It also was a matter of genuinely getting to know her colleagues, she adds.

“Sometimes in boardrooms, you see a board member who is engaged but not really engaged. They may be even a little snappy because they’re stressed. It can be something going on at work, something going on at home. If you’re not coming to the meetings 90 to 100%, it’s really hard to make those decisions, make those choices, set policies, and even be fiscally responsible when you have a lot of other things that are distractions,” says Graves, a member of the CUBE Steering Committee.

Graves will discuss the importance of board members looking after their health and using tools such as “grounding techniques” to help settle themselves during difficult discussions. “Modeling healthy behaviors for our constituents, our students, is something that I want to be able to share with attendees,” she says.

Moving equity forward

In Equity Focused Board Governance: Acceleration Through Innovation, Advocacy, and Action, members of the leadership team from Michigan’s Ypsilanti Community Schools will share their collective work adopting an equity-focused mission, vision, and strategic plan; allocating equitable resources; adopting a culturally responsive curriculum to ensure that all students are seen, heard, understood, valued, respected, and cared for; and having equitable tools for the adoption of equitable resources. Central to this equity-focused work has been leading with data, embedding culturally responsive practices, cultivating cultural awareness and proficiency, and analyzing policies and practices,

Kermit Belcher, deputy chief technology officer for Georgia’s DeKalb County School District, leads a panel of educators and tech innovators to discuss artificial intelligence and other technologies in shaping educational equity and preparing students for the changing employment landscape. The session, Emerging Technologies and Their Role in Empowering Urban Youth for the Future Workforce, will focus on how these technologies can be ethically implemented to benefit all students. It also will explore practical strategies to address and overcome the historical and systemic barriers that often sideline young people in urban communities. The session will offer insights and recommendations to ensure these technologies serve to empower rather than exclude, says Belcher. He and co-author Kiesha King address the issue of fostering an environment where urban students are equipped with the skills and knowledge to thrive in an increasingly digital world in their article, “New Technologies Empower Urban Youth,” in this issue of ASBJ. 

In Working for Equity in Equity-Averse Environments, leaders with the Southern Education Foundation and the federally funded Equity Assistance Center-South (EAC-South) will discuss strategies for moving equity work forward within the current sociopolitical environment and potential approaches to push back effectively on equity limitations and anti-DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives. EAC-South is one of four regional Equity Assistance Centers (EACs) that offer no-cost services to school districts committed to creating more equitable learning environments for their students. The presenters note that ongoing attacks on equity can be particularly relevant in urban communities, which may stand to gain the most from DEI work challenging disparities.