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.

When a school district hosts activities and individuals during extracurricular and co-curricular activities the district voluntarily assumes some risks of liability. Those risks are even greater in a global pandemic. This webinar will cover the school’s potential liability risk and defenses when hosting school events; the liability risks of “shutting down” some, or all, extracurricular activities or visitors during the pandemic; and creative approaches to protecting students and staff while minimizing risks.

Presented by: Nancy Black, Staff Attorney
One-Hour Webinar

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.

Presented by: McKenna Osborn, Staff Attorney
One-Hour Webinar