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Committee advances bill to require school‑board governance training options
Summary
AB 640 would require school‑district and charter governing board members to receive foundational training in public‑school finance and accountability; the bill advanced out of committee and is due to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Assemblymember Marucci said AB 640 would require members of governing boards for school districts, county offices of education and charter school governing bodies to receive training in two areas: K–12 public‑school finance and state accountability laws. She said the measure responds to turnover among trustees and the difficulty newcomers face overseeing multimillion‑dollar budgets.
Gail Garbalino Mojica, Placer County superintendent of schools, testified that Placer County’s local governance institute shows the value of consistent training: "As stewards of public funds and policymakers responsible for the academic success of 6,000,000 California students, it is essential that trustees understand how to read a budget," she said. Representatives of the California School Boards Association told the committee they support training in principle but opposed the bill in its original form because the draft limited how board members could select training providers.
Committee members pressed the author on whether statewide associations such as the California School Boards Association (CSBA) should be explicitly recognized as an eligible provider. Assemblymember Marucci said the bill was amended to allow nonprofit statewide education associations and that the bill’s language seeks to define categories of qualified trainers rather than name specific organizations.
Outcome: The committee moved AB 640 forward to the Senate Appropriations Committee; the committee recorded the vote and the bill was placed on call for the next stage.
