Tuesday, March 10, 2026

The Reed Union School District board's March meeting centered on two data-rich presentations — the district's inclusion work and its annual Youth Truth student, staff, and family survey — alongside a review of options for recording or live-streaming board meetings and a detailed look at the district's funds and developer fees ahead of June budget adoption.

Inclusion and Special Education

An inclusion specialist presented the district's multi-year inclusion journey, framing the work as "all means all" — ensuring every student, with or without an IEP or 504 plan, has access to curriculum, participation, and ways to demonstrate knowledge. She described starting three years ago at Del Mar by focusing on mindset and asset-based (rather than deficit-based) language, then defining academic inclusion (including universal accommodations such as sensory tools and flexible seating) and neurodiversity across all three sites. This year added a focus on social inclusion and safe spaces, with the goal of moving from awareness to practice to "embodiment," where inclusive practices become second nature. Next steps include building ownership at each site, library-program lessons, expanding universal accommodations, and strengthening belonging.

Youth Truth Survey

Staff presented this year's Youth Truth results, noting a deliberate change: the survey was administered in January rather than November so it would better reflect a full portion of the school year. Because results had just arrived, staff framed the presentation as a first glance, with deeper analysis still ahead. District-wide, Reed continued to outpace most California public schools, but several scores dropped more than anticipated. Bel Air saw declines across nearly every category for families and staff — with some staff measures, particularly engagement and staff culture, falling below the state average — while families of students with disabilities remained the most positive group and Hispanic and multiracial families reported lower scores. Del Mar showed some stabilization and growth alongside drops in engagement and academic challenge, and notably positive family feedback (high percentiles in culture and school safety), though socioeconomically disadvantaged students reported weaker belonging and peer collaboration, and seventh-grade scores fell sharply from the prior year. Staff outlined next steps: a structured process moving from site administrators to grade-level chairs to full staff, SMART goal-setting, possible follow-up surveys and focus groups, and new cross-school trend analysis. Trustees encouraged digging deeper into academic challenge and the lower-scoring groups, and asked about using AI tools to theme the survey's qualitative comments.

Board Meeting Recording and Bond Survey

The board reviewed options for upgrading from its current audio-only meeting recordings, which one staff member processes and posts to the website (target one week). Staff outlined a lower-cost option (roughly $400–600 in equipment, minimal setup, no post-production) and a more robust video/live-stream option (up to about $7,000 plus software and more staff time). Trustees noted recordings had drawn only about 16 total clicks since the start of the school year and weighed whether expanded video was worth the added staff time, citing neighboring districts such as Larkspur and Kentfield that already stream. Members leaned toward a lighter-weight option. In a related discussion tied to a possible June bond decision, trustees discussed conducting a follow-up community tracking survey and having a different board member help review the survey questions, stressing that such a survey is only worthwhile alongside genuine community engagement.

Budget, Funds, and Developer Fees

Business official Dr. Kim previewed June budget adoption and answered trustee questions about the district's funds, explaining that Reed maintains only certain standard state fund codes, that Fund 51 relates to general-obligation bonds and is not currently active, and that there is no encroachment on the general fund. On developer fees (called impact fees in Tiburon and Belvedere) — one-time charges on residential and commercial construction authorized under California Education Code 17620 — he noted the district's last fee study dates to September 2015 and a new one may be warranted, cited current rates of $2.38 per square foot residential and $0.54 commercial, and explained that 70% of each fee dollar is retained by Reed while 30% is remitted to the Tamalpais Union district under a longstanding agreement, accounting for the gap between collected and expended amounts. He also explained that projected increases in Granada lease revenue stem from revenue drivers built into existing lease agreements.

Job Description, Policies, and Other Business

The board approved an updated technology/IT leadership job description and salary schedule, last revised around 2015, now emphasizing innovation, personalized learning, cybersecurity and safety, and educational technology. Trustees continued their review of board policies and bylaws for alignment with CSBA standards — advancing several (including policies 1114, 2120, 6143, and 7131 and bylaws including 9310) to second reading while pulling bylaw 9270 and its exhibit back for further work. Out of closed session, the board reported two unanimous actions: denying an appeal of an inter-district transfer request under Board Policy 5117, and denying an appeal in a public-employee discipline matter with direction to legal counsel to issue a written decision. The board asked staff to return with Youth Truth follow-up insights and a crossing-guard status update, and adjourned at 9:18 p.m.