Students will participate in California School Boards Association conference, seeking solutions

Fifty-five school districts throughout the state will send their student board members to the California School Boards Association conference in 2023 – where the various stakeholders will be able to discuss challenges facing public schools, KPBS reported.

“Students are the most honest group you will ever listen to. We’re the ones in those dusty classrooms, we’re the ones in those spaces, and we’re forced to be honest with what’s happening,” Matthew Quitoriano, San Diego Unified’s school board trustee, told KPBS.

Currently, student board members have a voice on school boards, but no voting rights.

“Everything we’re doing is really to prepare California for the future. It’s really to get these kids into what I call the lift of public education,” Debra Schade, the Board President of the Solana Beach School District, told KPBS. “Allowing these kids to have an opportunity and trajectory where they will thrive and contribute back to our society.”