Tuesday, January 13, 2026

The Reed Union School District board opened the new year with a clean independent audit, adoption of a wellness-and-belonging action plan, and a thoughtful debate over whether to begin compensating trustees. The board also heard a parent's call for greater campus accessibility and reviewed its school accountability report cards.

Independent Auditor's Report

Business official Dr. Kim presented the district's independent audit for fiscal year 2024–25, filed with the county and state by the December 15 deadline. He reported a clean result: the district maintains sufficient reserves for a district of its size and meets the state-required minimum reserve for economic uncertainty (4% that year), with no material weaknesses, no deficiencies, and no findings on the financial statements. He explained that a referenced "adverse opinion on a discretely presented component unit" simply reflects that the Foundation for Reed Schools is audited separately, not a district financial problem. One non-financial finding noted the district did not operate a qualifying Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) in 2024–25; the related state apportionment of $107,797 has been booked as payable for return, and the district expects to resolve the finding by operating an ELOP in partnership with the Ranch, with an MOU due to the board in February. The board accepted the audit.

Trustee Compensation (AB 1390)

The board discussed, but did not act on, whether to update its bylaw on trustee compensation in light of Assembly Bill 1390, which raised the statutory caps on what board members may be paid. The district's current bylaw, last reviewed in 2013, treats service as voluntary with no compensation. Trustees weighed an equity argument — that modest pay (discussed as roughly $600/month for 11 months, about $6,600 a year per member, or roughly $33,000 if all five participated) could lower barriers for prospective members who face childcare or income constraints — against concerns about cost, being an outlier among Marin governing boards that generally don't pay, and several members' personal preference not to be paid. Noting the statute uses "may," not "shall," and that the board currently has a vacancy, members reached consensus to table the issue until the board is back to five and adjourned at full strength.

Wellness and Belonging Action Plan

Staff and a school counselor presented the Wellness and Belonging Task Force's action plan, built on the CASEL social-emotional learning framework and its five domains. The plan emphasizes clear student outcomes, deliberate instruction, authentic application through lunchtime clubs and leadership opportunities, and a revival of service learning. Discussion focused on staffing consistency — the difficulty of a counselor split across sites being able to do preventative rather than only crisis work, the value of a daily "trusted adult," and a request from Del Mar female students for access to a female mental-health professional. Trustees raised the broader policy question of whether the district should bring in outside community partnerships (such as the library or the Ranch) so schools aren't asked to shoulder every need alone. The board approved the action plan.

Accessibility, Programs, and Other Business

During public comment, a parent of a child with a physical disability transitioning to Bel Air described an accessibility walkthrough that surfaced facilities-access issues she said fall short of IDEA, Section 504, and ADA standards, urging the district to address them for all current and future students with disabilities, and asked that meetings be made available online. The board approved the School Accountability Report Cards (SARCs) for 2024–25, with discussion of the inherent lag in some reported data. Bel Air's principal and a Spanish teacher highlighted Spanish-language integration tied to the strategic plan and Spanish task-force action steps, including a popular Spanish lunch table and student "meme" segments on the school TV show. The PTA and Foundation reported on holiday giving (Adoptive Family gifts and Tiburon Police Department giving-tree support), staff potlucks, a move to the Square payment platform, nominating-committee recruitment, and a Foundation mid-year update showing roughly $1.656 million in donations and pledges and about 55% participation. The board also reviewed several board policies for alignment with CSBA standards — including adding links to the district's "vision of a Reed graduate" — and reported a 4–0 closed-session vote to reject a claim in Doe v. RUSD.