On November 30th, PRI had the privilege of hosting over 50 current and newly elected California school board members at our School Board Member Training Conference in San Diego, California. 

Board members had the opportunity to listen to panel topics that included:
1.    How to be an effective school board member
2.    Key policies that school boards should address, including fighting the woke classroom and Critical Race Theory
3.    What school board members can do to improve student achievement

Conference panelists included:

Lance Izumi, Senior Director, Center for Education at Pacific Research Institute 
Mari Barke, Trustee, Orange County Board of Education
Paul Keefer, President, Sacramento County Board of Education
Gary Davis, Vice President of Civic & Political Affairs, California Charter Schools Association
Chris Arend, Past President, Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board
Sandra Crandall, Trustee, Fountain Valley School District Board
Barbara Hale, President, Riverside County Board of Education
Michael Gordon, President, Rescue Union School District Board

School board members from across the state had the opportunity to engage in Q&A sessions with each of our eight esteemed panelists. Copies of relevant PRI education studies were distributed to all attendees. PRI also hosted a networking lunch and a wine and cheese reception after the program for members to connect with likeminded board members and build coalitions. 

Below are a few testimonials from School Board Members who attended the conference:

“I would like to thank you and your team for all the hard work you put in to make this conference so timely, informative and valuable.”

“Thank you for an informative event at the PRI School Board Training Conference. The invitation and your hospitality was outstanding. In the future, I look forward to participating with PRI events.”

“Thank you so much for your work in offering this excellent school board training. It was a very informative, enjoyable day!”

We will be distributing digital resources to attendees and school board members who were unable to join in person. PRI's next California School Board Member Training Conference will be held in 2023 in San Francisco. We plan to expand the program to Texas and Arizona next year. Our 2023 conferences will be livestreamed to ensure we reach the widest possible audience. 

Our work to educate and empower school board members to put parents and students first would not be possible without the generosity of our supporters. We are incredibly grateful to our donors for supporting this critical program.