COSSBA Connection - February 2026
- COSSBA
- Feb 25
- 9 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
In this Issue:
Together We Make It Possible: 2026 COSSBA National Conference
Without you, all of this would be impossible. To the 27 state school boards associations and to your dedicated board members, executives, and staff, thank you for elevating the 2026 COSSBA National Conference to one of the best in the country. Your leadership and collaboration shaped this conference through your willingness to serve as presenters, volunteers, advisors, and engaged participants. The COSSBA National Conference thrives because of the collective wisdom and dedication you bring to public education. Your contributions strengthened not only the event itself but also the nationwide community of school board members working to support public schools – our students, educators, and communities. We are grateful for the time, passion, and partnership each of you invested in making this year’s conference meaningful and memorable. We look forward to seeing you in Louisville!
We have added several new things this year so be sure to check them out:
COSSBA Bookstore with a variety of books, including staff favorites. We are asking attendees to bring their favorite books with them or purchase one at the bookstore to donate to the COSSBA book drive. These books will be donated to a local Louisville nonprofit.
While you are in the Exhibitor Showcase, stop by our video area and take a few minutes to share the successes, innovations and stories that make your schools special. Whether it is a student achievement, a creative program, a dedicated educator or a community partnership, this is your opportunity to tell the story of public education the way it should be told. We will compile these videos and share them with elected officials and the public through our social media platforms, helping amplify the strong work happening in districts like yours.
Elevate: Women Leading the Future of Education, a new breakout session bringing together women leaders for an engaging, interactive session. Attendees will leave with a personalized leadership intention and practical tools to strengthen their presence, decision-making, and impact at the board table and beyond. There is no additional fee to attend, but registration is required. To register, click here.
And, if you would like to volunteer for a couple of hours while you are at the conference - directing attendees to events, answering questions at registration or just lending a hand, please email alize.doherty@cossba.org.
For the full agenda, please go to our website.
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COSSBA Preconference Day to Deliver High-Impact Breakout Sessions
COSSBA will kick off its 2026 National Conference with an engaging Preconference Day on March 12, hosted by the Unified Boards Alliance (UBA). Centered on the theme “From Vision to Impact: Innovative Strategies for Reaching High Student Achievement,” the day will feature dynamic keynote speakers and focused breakout sessions designed to equip school board members and district leaders with practical, results-driven strategies.
Participants can expect interactive sessions on:
Innovative Leadership for Student Success
Strategic Governance and Accountability
Turning Vision into Measurable Results
Elevating Student Voice in Board Leadership
The UBA Preconference Day sets the tone for a powerful and purposeful conference experience, focused on strong leadership, unified governance, and advancing student achievement nationwide.
By bringing together visionary leadership, practical strategies, and collaborative dialogue, COSSBA and UBA are reinforcing a shared commitment to excellence in governance and improved outcomes for every student.
Participants will leave energized, equipped, and ready to lead with clarity and purpose, ensuring that the work of boards across the nation continues to move from vision to measurable impact in classrooms and communities.
For the UBA Preconference Day, click here.
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Student Voice Is Not Optional in Effective School Board Governance
By Dr. Kathy McFarland, Executive Director
Public education exists for one reason: students.
Voices most directly affected by governance decisions are often the least represented in the conversation. If school boards are serious about effective governance, improved outcomes, and community trust, student voice cannot be an afterthought. It must be embedded in the work.
Governance is about the future. Boards adopt policies, set the vision, oversee budgets, and monitor performance with long-term student success in mind. But the “future” we discuss in strategic plans is not abstract. Students are sitting in classrooms right now. Every day, students experience the impact of decisions about curriculum, assessment, discipline policy, safety, technology, mental health supports, and extracurricular opportunities. When boards operate without intentionally hearing from students, they risk governing based on assumptions rather than on input from students’ experiences.
Student voice grounds governance in reality.
This is not about symbolism. It is about strategy.
When boards create structured opportunities for student input, conversations shift. Data is contextualized. Policy discussions become more focused. Assumptions are challenged. Strategic priorities become clearer and more aligned with lived experience.
High-functioning boards across the country are moving beyond ceremonial student reports at the start of meetings. They are building systems for meaningful engagement, including student advisory councils, student representatives in committee discussions, listening sessions during strategic planning, and student school board members.
Importantly, student voice does not blur governance roles. Boards remain responsible for setting direction and ensuring accountability. Student input informs decisions; it does not replace them. The distinction matters. Effective governance requires informed decisions, and students provide insight that no consultant, survey summary, or adult stakeholder group can fully replicate.
Why does this matter now?
Today’s students navigate extraordinary complexity. Academic recovery efforts, evolving workforce demands, mental health challenges, social media pressures, and rapid technological change shape their daily lives. Boards cannot fully understand the student experience by reviewing raw data alone.
Quantitative metrics tell us what is happening. Students help us understand why.
Listening to students strengthens governance in several ways. It improves relevance, responsiveness, trust, and transparency. And perhaps most importantly, it models democratic practice.
When students see their perspectives sought, considered, and valued in public decision-making, they experience civic engagement firsthand. They learn that leadership listens. They see institutions can adapt. They witness governance as participatory rather than distant.
That lesson may be among the most powerful outcomes public education can offer.
However, student voice must be intentional to be meaningful.
Boards should clarify the purpose: What decisions or strategic priorities will student input inform? They should ensure representation: Are diverse perspectives included beyond those of traditional high-achieving or student government leaders? They should provide structure: How will feedback be gathered, synthesized, and shared? And they must close the loop: How will students know their input influenced action?
Without clarity and follow-through, student voice becomes performative. With structure and accountability, it becomes transformative.
Strong governance is anchored in mission alignment. If the mission of public education is student success across academic, social, emotional, and civic domains, then excluding student perspectives from governance conversations undermines that mission.
Student voice keeps boards focused on what matters most. It humanizes policy. It challenges complacency. It reminds decision-makers that behind every budget line and policy revision is a student navigating a real, complex experience.
Listening to students is not a trend, a public relations strategy, or a box to check.
It is a governance imperative.
School boards that intentionally elevate student voice do more than improve decision-making. They strengthen trust, deepen community connections, and model the democratic values that public education is designed to sustain.
If we govern for students, we must also be willing to govern alongside them.
And that begins by listening.
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COSSBA’s Continued Advocacy for Public Education
By Dr. Kathy McFarland, Executive Director
On December 8-10, 2025, Julie Feasel and I braved the frigid temperatures and high winds in Washington for two days of meetings with bipartisan leadership offices in the United States Senate to advocate for our shared priorities. Although it was cold outside, the reception was warm and cheerful, and we had incredibly productive and positive conversations. There’s something uniquely energizing about walking the halls of Capitol Hill with a clear purpose: advocating for students, educators, and public schools.
Senate Meetings
Our meetings began in the Russell Senate Office Building, an ornate landmark that was the first office space for U.S. Senators outside the Capitol. Our first meeting was with Mimi Vance, Legislative Assistant to Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), who chairs the Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education Subcommittee on Appropriations, which is responsible for funding federal investments in education. Next, we met with Alex Hsi, Legislative Aide for Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Our last stop before lunch was with Riley Larson, Legislative Assistant to Republican Caucus Chair Tom Cotton (R-AR), where we learned about the Senator’s bipartisan legislation to help schools manage cell phone use.
After a quick planning lunch, we headed to the Hart Senate Office Building — home to Alexander Calder’s iconic “Mountains & Clouds” sculpture—to meet with Rolance Yun, a Legislative Fellow and former teacher with Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL). Next, we visited Max Hurst, Senior Policy Advisor to Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chair of the Democratic Steering & Policy Committee. Along with a robust policy conversation, we also had the chance to see some fascinating historical artifacts from famous Minnesota Senators. Our final meeting of the day was with Patrick Minihan, Legislative Aide to Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-SD).
Bright and early on our second day, we met with Mark Laisch, longtime Education Policy Advisor to Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee—and a familiar face at our COSSBA Federal Advocacy Conferences. Between Capitol Hill meetings, I also met with Ray Hart, Executive Director of the Council of Great City Schools. COSSBA is stronger when we collaborate with other national organizations, and I’m excited to continue working with Ray and his team to advocate for public education.
Education Funding
Across both Republican and Democratic offices, there was broad agreement that sustained investment in education is essential for workforce readiness, economic growth, and national competitiveness. We thanked the Senate offices for their bipartisan efforts to fund education. We discussed how we could help advance the Senate’s Fiscal Year 2026 Education Funding Bill, which included a modest but essential increase. We also highlighted the need for predictability so that local districts can plan their budgets with confidence, a point echoed in the Senate bill. The Senate’s version of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Bill passed the House with bipartisan support on February 3, 2026, and the president signed it the next day.
Flexibility for Federal Tax Credits
We also focused on the pending regulations for the new scholarship tax credit included in H.R. 1, the budget reconciliation bill passed this summer. As the Treasury Department finalizes implementation rules, we emphasized that for most families, public school is their school of choice. The regulations should therefore allow flexible and robust use of the credit for public education, as outlined in H.R. 1. These programs could benefit public school students through investments in wraparound supports, tutoring, after-school programs, and, especially, in rural communities where public schools are often the only option. Nearly every office we met with agreed on the importance of flexibility and on giving states authority to enforce reasonable guardrails to ensure tax dollars are well spent.
H-1B Visas and Talent Retention
Finally, we discussed the potential impact of the new $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, especially its effect on efforts to address shortages of highly specialized educators across many member states. Once again, we found widespread understanding and support. Staffers recognized that H-1B educators have played a crucial role, particularly in rural communities, and shared that they’re hearing similar concerns from local districts.
Partnership Matters
During every meeting, I emphasized that COSSBA is here to help and serve as a resource. The staff we met with asked detailed questions, requested stories and data from our members, and showed genuine interest in partnering to better understand how federal policy affects schools locally. These meetings reinforced the importance of advocacy and the key role of constructive engagement and collaboration in advancing policy.
Days like these remind us that progress often occurs quietly through conversation, cooperation, and shared commitment to children's betterment. It also highlights why it’s so vital for me to regularly visit Washington: to ensure COSSBA’s voice remains prominent in the national education dialogue.
I’m already looking forward to my next trip, May 4-6, hopefully when the weather outside is as warm as the people we meet inside.
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The Mass Shooting Playbook
Introduction by Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications
A mass shooting is not just a tactical emergency. It is a communications crucible. This article introduces the Mass Shooting Playbook, a research-driven, practical handbook for leaders and communicators responsible for communities under threat. Built on real-world cases, it offers checklists, clear roles, and guidance for preparedness, response, and recovery, so you’re not improvising when fear, scrutiny, and grief collide.
Every issue of Crisis Communications Today is written with one hope: to teach and give our readers usable, doable information.
Unfortunately, we know the reality many of you live with every day: the threat of a mass shooting is no longer theoretical for city halls, schools, colleges, hospitals and first responders. It is a planning assumption.
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Supporting Multilingual Learners in Middle and High School ELA
Provided by McGraw Hill
Multilingual learners (MLLs) are a growing population in U.S. schools, and they aren’t a monolith. They bring diverse languages, cultures, and strengths to our communities, yet language support is too often treated as a separate intervention rather than an integrated part of instruction.
Our latest blog post, featuring insights from an expert MLL educator, explores how districts can shift to an asset-based approach by embracing students’ home languages, embedding speaking and collaboration into daily learning, and intentionally designing classrooms that foster belonging and achievement. For school boards focused on literacy, equity, and engagement, this conversation is essential.
Read the full article to explore practical strategies and leadership considerations for supporting multilingual learners in grades 6–12 by going here.
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