Newly and reelected board members can strengthen their core with NCSBA’s Core Training course. Core training is a self-paced, virtual training event that includes all the components of our in-person sessions. Hear our talented staff cover leadership, advocacy, the required ethics training for school board members, and more during eight hours of recorded presentations. Access will begin May 1 and participants will have 60 days to complete the training. The last day for purchase is June 30.

Core training topics include:

• Leadership Training – basic boardsmanship dos and don’ts, board/superintendent roles and responsibilities, school finance, and school board liability.
• Advocacy Training – board members’ advocacy work, a legislative update on current issues, NCSBA’s member-approved legislative agenda, and a how-to talk on effectively engaging legislators.
• Required Ethics Training – School board members are required to earn two hours of ethics training within 12 months of election or reelection.

Those completing all modules of the course will earn 12 hours of training.

Course Video Lessons

• • Welcome, Now You’re a Board Member
    Ed Dunlap, NCSBA Executive Director
    1 hour
  • The Board or the Superintendent? Quiz
    Ed Dunlap, NCSBA Executive Director
    1 hour
  • Common Liability Issues for School Districts
    Donna Lynch, NCSBA Litigation Counsel
    1 hour
  • Ethics for School Board Members
    Attorneys, NCSBA Legal/Policy department
    2 hours
  • Governing the School System Through Board Policy
    Janine Murphy, NCSBA Assistant Legal Counsel
    1 hour
  • Understanding Basic School Budget Issues
    Richard Bostic, NCSBA Assistant Director of Governmental Relations
    1 hour
  • Your Role as a Legislative Advocate for Public Education
    Leanne Winner, NCSBA Director of Governmental Relations
    1 hour
  • Board/Superintendent Roles and Responsibilities
    Ramona Powers, NCSBA Director of Board Development & Technology
    1 hour 

The next Core Training opportunity will be in July 2021 at the NCSBA office in Raleigh.

In this two-hour webinar, we will discuss the ethical standards established by state law for school board members. The webinar will also include a discussion of state and federal laws related to conflicts of interest pertaining to making and administering contracts and possible legal consequences when these laws are violated. Finally, this webinar will review other well-established legal duties and responsibilities of school board members.

Webinar access is for individual board members.

There will be an ethics sessions for whole-board access available in August.

The 2021 NCSBA Summer Leadership Seminars and Policy Conference is back in person! The dates are June 14-18 at the Courtyard Marriott in Carolina Beach. Take a look at our Policy Conference draft agenda. Details regarding daily programming for the Summer Leadership Seminars is forthcoming.

Your health and well-being are our number one priority. On May 14, Governor Cooper announced that the state will remove its indoor mask mandate for most large group events, effective immediately. Additionally, the state will lift all mass gathering limits and social distancing requirements. In response to this announcement, NCSBA is pleased to expand the Summer Leadership/Policy Conference sessions to a maximum capacity of 90 attendees. With this in mind, the following protocols will be implemented for the daily seminars.

Hotel Guidelines

Participants staying at the Courtyard Marriott receive one free parking space per guest room. Offsite participants or guest rooms that have more than one vehicle must park in public parking spaces. Note that fees apply for the public parking spaces.

The entire hotel, including balconies, is smoke free. Inquire at the front desk for the designated smoking areas. The hotel is not a pet-friendly property.

Additional resources 

• Marriott Commitment to Clean for increased cleaning and disinfection
• Carolina Beach information
• Planning a trip to Carolina Beach
• COVID-19 Information Hub (Office of the Governor)
• CDC Guidelines for Travel (CDC.gov)

For more information about this event, call us at 919-841-4040.

Sign up today to access one or all of the recorded videos aired this spring. Videos are approximately one hour and cost $250 per school system. Access is available from 7 a.m. June 22nd until 11:59 p.m. June 23rd.

To register for each webinar, click the title of interest below and then click the green registration button.

• Addressing Students’ Mental Health Needs
  This video will discuss how LEAs in North Carolina can address the mental health needs of students through compliance with the State Board of Education’s recently adopted School–Based Mental Health Initiative policy.

• NC Open Meetings Law
  Compliance with the Open Meetings Law provides for transparency and accountability and is vital to good school board governance. This webinar will provide an overview of the North Carolina Open Meetings Law as it applies to local school board members and official school board meetings. Topics will include types of meetings, notice requirements, open versus closed sessions, meeting minutes, public access and attendance, electronic and remote meetings, and other current and emerging issues related to legally compliant school board meetings.
• Student Law Discipline Basics
  This webinar will provide an overview of the constitutional and state law requirements related to student discipline. Listeners will gain an understanding of what are short-term suspensions, long-term suspensions, 365-day suspensions, and expulsions, as well as the due process rights of students under North Caroline student discipline law.
• The Reach of North Carolina’s Public Records Law
  Are communications sent via private electronic devices and accounts public records? Can board members be held personally liable for failing to comply with the public records law? What questions should board members ask to assess their district’s compliance with the law? If you don’t know the answer to these questions, make plans to attend this webinar for a primer on North Carolina’s public records law.

• Title IX and Board Policy: An Orientation Guide
  After the Department of Education issued new regulations on Title IX sexual harassment in May 2020, school systems across the country were left scrambling to put policies and procedures in place to implement the new requirements. This webinar explains why NCSBA issued six new policies on discrimination, harassment, and bullying in July 2020 and what’s included in those new policies. Most importantly, the webinar will give you a working knowledge of the two new Title IX sexual harassment policies and what happens next after your school system receives a report or complaint of sexual harassment. 
• Understanding Your Legal Duties as Board Chair
  The chair of a local board of education is responsible for presiding over meetings of the board, but what other duties does the chair have? Join this webinar for an overview of how board meetings are to be organized, scheduling and calling meetings, setting agendas, permissible reasons for closed session, and other essential topics.

For questions, please contact Chadae Lewis, membership services assistant, at clewis@ncsba.org or 919-747-6675.

Core Training will be held on Monday, July 19. The training is a face-to-face session at the NCSBA Office in Raleigh that covers leadership, liability, advocacy, finance, and the required ethics training for school board members. In addition, participating attendees will receive access to digital content covering policy, open meetings, and public records. Please note that this training does not have a virtual component. Registration will open June 1 and will cost $250 per person.

Draft agenda is available here.

Hotel Suggestions

Hampton Inn Raleigh-Capital Blvd. North
3621 Spring Forest Rd, Raleigh, NC 27616
(919) 872-7111