Monterey Peninsula Unified School District board member and current California School Boards Association (CSBA) President-elect Dr. Bettye Lusk was chosen by the association’s Delegate Assembly on Dec. 4 as its 2025 President. CSBA represents more than 1,000 California school districts and county offices of education and more than 5,000 school trustees.
Educated in a one-room, segregated schoolhouse in the Jim Crow South, Lusk moved from Arkansas to California as an adult and began her career as a high school special education teacher in the Merced Union High School District. There, she met and married her husband and moved to Monterey where she taught third grade at Marina Vista Elementary School in Monterey Peninsula USD. After receiving her master’s degree in education, Lusk became dean of students and eventually principal of Monterey Peninsula USD’s Seaside High. Upon retirement, Lusk was recruited by community members to run for the Monterey Peninsula USD school board, where she has served as trustee for the past 18 years.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be selected as CSBA President by my peers across the state,” Lusk said. “Our students have great need, and we have an equal obligation to provide them with the resources needed for success. We continue to face insurmountable challenges that interfere with providing a quality education for every child, so we must remove those barriers and advance our efforts to support disadvantaged and underserved students. I’m humbled by this leadership opportunity and excited by the platform it gives me to address the student achievement crisis and to accelerate learning for all California public school students.”
Lusk has been an active member of CSBA since 2009, holding positions of increasing responsibility including, but not limited to, Vice President; President-elect; Director at Large, African American; Vice President of the Legislative Committee; Chair of the Annual Education Conference Planning Committee; Vice Chair of the Audit Committee; member of the Policy Platform, Finance, Bylaws, Board Development and Education Legal Alliance committees; Board Governance Team judge; Equity Network member; and Region 9B (Monterey) Delegate.
Lusk received her bachelor’s degree from Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she majored in elementary and special education, obtained her master’s degree in education/counseling and pupil personnel services from the University of San Francisco (USF) and earned a doctorate from USF in organizational leadership and management with an emphasis on multicultural education.
Lusk officially assumes the role of 2025 CSBA President on the final day of the association’s 2024 Annual Education Conference and Trade Show, held in Anaheim from Dec. 5-7. Joining her on CSBA’s 2025 Executive Committee are President-elect Dr. Debra Schade from Solana Beach School District, Vice President Sabrena Rodriguez of Ventura USD and Immediate Past President Albert Gonzalez.
More @ Dr. Bettye Lusk on MPUSD's webpage.
