Tuesday, October 14, 2025

The Reed Union School District board recognized newly tenured teachers, took an extensive look at how the district supports struggling students, and confronted what trustees called "sobering" budget news: a county oversight letter affirming the district's budget while flagging a structural deficit that will require finding roughly $1.75 million over the next two years.

County Budget Oversight (AB 1200) and the Structural Deficit

Business official Dr. Kim presented a statutory letter, dated September 15, 2025, from the Marin County Office of Education reviewing the budget the board adopted in June. The county approved the budget and the LCAP, confirming they meet the state's 3% reserve standard, but drew attention to deficit spending that would reduce the district's fund balance by about 35% over three years. To stay above the board's adopted reserve threshold, the county indicated the district would need to identify roughly $1.75 million in reductions or new revenue over the next two years — on top of about $300,000 in attrition-based salary savings already forecast. Dr. Kim explained the district is a community-funded (basic-aid) district that cannot easily raise revenue, that its mandated transitional-kindergarten program (five new classrooms in recent years) brings no additional state funding, and that acting earlier lets savings compound over time. He noted the district budgets property-tax growth conservatively (4.13% for 2025–26, 3.85% in later years) on county guidance, with the voter-approved parcel tax flat at 3%. Trustees said the information, while not new, felt "real" laid out on a timeline, and stressed the value of robust reserves — pointing to fire-affected peer districts struggling with delayed property reassessments and to community-funded neighbors now facing state and county intervention.

Budget Advisory Committee

Dr. Kim described the district's Budget Advisory Committee, now 17 members (typically 10–13 attending), including board representatives, Foundation and PTA representatives, parents from all three sites, both employee bargaining units (RDTA and CSEA), and professionals such as finance faculty, tax attorneys, and education-policy consultants. The committee, which is advisory, met September 29 to review the budget, reserve policy, and key cost pressures in special education, Foundation-supported programs, and pre-K, and acknowledged limited room to generate new revenue. Trustees said they look forward to its recommendations.

Curriculum and Reading Screener

Staff gave a curriculum-timeline update, noting Amplify Desmos has been adopted as the PK–5 math curriculum at Reed and Bel Air. The district is early in a two-year literacy roadmap exploring English language arts and social sciences, and has implemented a new universal reading screener — administered to all students to pinpoint needs, with staff clarifying it is not used to qualify students for IEPs and that instruction begins promptly within the parent-notification window. Health is in a pilot year with no single comprehensive curriculum available, and staff said a social-emotional learning curriculum would be brought to the board for review even though it isn't formally adopted because no state standard ties to it.

Student Support: Bel Air REACH Team and MTSS

A Bel Air team presented the school's REACH process within its Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). Staff walked through the steps: grade-level teams identify students of concern and try interventions; if more help is needed, a teacher completes a "SNAP" (Student Needs Action Plan) form capturing specific behaviors and prior interventions; a case manager observes the student and brings the case to the full REACH team for strength-based brainstorming, followed by monitored interventions and, if needed, parent or SST meetings. Staff reported serving roughly 19 students last year and 17 this year, with the most referrals coming from third grade, and emphasized building resilient, well-rounded learners rather than just solving isolated problems.

Recognitions, Reports, and Policies

The board celebrated newly tenured certificated staff, including Christine Derby, Kevin MacDonald, Mary Quinn Harkin, Christy Ryan, Isabel Shahan, Dr. Megan Singh, and Natalie Benson. The Foundation reported on its pledge campaign (and a $1 million check to the district due in January) and growing social-media reach, while the PTA reported working around a School Pay outage by adding Venmo, about 402 family members and roughly $32,000 in dues collected, and a Del Mar session on private-school recommendation letters. The superintendent recapped district safety procedures, including an external safety committee with fire, police, and emergency-management partners that the county has called a model program, and new parent-friendly family guides in math and English. Board members reported on a CASEL-framework discussion, an upcoming Mosaic visit, Brown Act and board-president training, and praise for RUSD students from Challenge Day facilitators. Staff also presented the CBEDS October-census enrollment report, noting transitional-kindergarten adds roughly 100 students to the count. The board approved a revised directory-information policy (Board Policy 5125.1) preserving the Foundation's ability to publish a family directory with parental consent while barring disclosure to for-profit entities, and held first readings of several policies, including non-discrimination in employment with added drug- and alcohol-free language.