CALSA's Summer Institute 2026

AI is arriving in our schools whether we are ready or not. For superintendents leading predominantly Latino communities, the urgency is not just operational. It is personal. Our students deserve the same access to the tools shaping the future as any student anywhere in this country, and it is our responsibility as leaders to make sure they get it.


This session presents a district-wide AI Leadership Blueprint developed and implemented inside West Covina Unified School District, a San Gabriel Valley community of 7,800 students, where 73% of students are Latino, and 83% are on Free and Reduced Lunch. Every element of this Blueprint was built from the ground up, through deliberate, strategic, and personally led work that reached every corner of the district, from the boardroom to the classroom, from the front office to the family workshop.


Participants will explore the full arc of implementation: establishing board governance that gives AI work a legal and ethical foundation, aligning cabinet and site leadership around a shared vision, designing teacher professional learning that is self-directed and job-embedded, engaging classified and support staff as full partners in the work, reaching multilingual families with information that builds confidence rather than fear, and developing student AI literacy as a matter of access and equity.


This is not a vendor presentation. There are no products being sold and no perfect district being showcased. This is an honest, practical account of what it takes to lead this work with intention, from a superintendent who believes that when educators have the right tools and conditions to thrive, every student gains access to opportunities that can change the trajectory of their life.


Attendees will leave with a replicable blueprint and a clear path forward.