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Under a system that has long prioritized local control for school districts. state officials now are fighting some recent board decisions regarding LGBTQ students.

Last year California began providing free school lunches to all TK-12 students, regardless of family income. Now, with an influx of state and federal money, school districts are revamping kitchens and training staff so they can provide freshly made, healthy meals.

Long after the smoke has cleared in Happy Camp, California, school staff, students and families are grappling with trauma, uncertainty and a dire housing shortage that’s left many to suffer from long-term homelessness.

Prop. 28 will provide about $1 billion each year in funding to California public schools, starting in 2023. Former Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner, a chief backer of the initiative, discusses how it will work.

Even as the overall population in California’s rural north has remained steady or even grown over the past two decades, the number of children enrolled in public schools such as those in Quincy has shrunk. From the Pacific Coast to the inland mountains and valleys, dozens of schools have seen steep drops in enrollment.