Dear RUSD Community,
PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING THE TERRITORY TRANSFER PETITION
At Monday evening's Board meeting, all five members of the RUSD Board
unanimously voiced that they are all in strong opposition to the territory transfer
petition. They mentioned a wide variety of reasons for this opposition.
The comments included concerns around the flawed petition process, the
majority of the students and families electing to attend RUSD, valuing
all 3 of our communities, the opposition we are hearing from our
community members, the fiscal impact, etc. RUSD stands in strong
opposition to this territory transfer.
Liz Webb, our Board President, will be presenting our perspectives
at the two upcoming public hearings that will be held by the County
Board on School Organization. These two events are also the best place
for you to express your perspective as this is the first governing body
that will hear perspectives and will determine whether the petition
should move onto the state or not.
The first public hearing will be on Wednesday, November 30th at 6:00 PM
Cove School Gallery
330 Golden Hind Passage
Corte Madera, CA 94925
The second is Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 6:00 PM
Del Mar Middle School Gymnasium
105 Avenida Miraflores
Tiburon, CA 94920
SECOND DISTRICT-WIDE SAFETY DRILL - MONDAY, DECEMBER 5TH
RUSD will be conducting our second district-wide safety drill. This
time it will be a fire drill. As we continue to improve our safety
practices, we will incorporate the practice of an Emergency Operation
Center and practice with communicating to our parents and staff during
the drill. Watch for information on 12/5 and remember that it’s only
a drill. Keep in mind that the call will come from Oregon as a
503-946-XXXX phone number. We are continuing to talk to the communication
platform about improvements, but at this time, you should expect a
call from this number.
UPDATE ON FACILITY COMMITTEE
The Facility Committee met six times over the past year and has completed their review
of the condition of the District’s schools and facilities improvement needs. The Committee
created recommendations that will be presented the Board at a workshop in January.
The Committee’s work was invaluable! They provided a strong vision for the future facilities
needs of the District and how facilities can support the educational program now and into
the future. Their input and recommendations will be incorporated into the District’s Facility
Master Plan that will guide the implementation of facility improvements for the District
over the next 5-10 years.
UPDATE ON MATH TASK FORCE
The last full Math Task Force meeting was held on November 17th. During this meeting,
the group gave feedback on a draft Action Plan. The final Internal Math Task Force meeting
will be held on Thursday, December 1st so that the internal group can make
any final edits and commitments to the action plan. The final step will be to take the plan
to the Board for their comments, adjustments, and action. As you know, we have incredible
math achievement in RUSD and we’re always looking for ways to continue to grow and improve.
UPDATE ON LARKSPUR CORTE MADERA SCHOOL DISTRICT (LCMSD) DISCUSSIONS
On November 15th, 2022, the RUSD and LCMSD teams met for the fourth time
this school year to continue discussions regarding the Interdistrict
Transfer Agreement. RUSD provided a counterproposal for an updated IDT
agreement that addressed the guiding principles shared by the RUSD
Board of Trustees to support the East Corte Madera families that are
currently attending LCMSD with an approved IDT permit. The new 5-year
agreement proposed by RUSD provided payment that included the secured
property tax and parcel tax that each IDT family parcel produces in
order to allow the current IDT students and siblings to finish their
K-8 educational journey at LCMSD schools, if they choose. The agreement
also extended the scope of the MOU to include The Cove School and
Hall Middle School. Additionally, siblings of current students
born before December 1, 2022 that have an approved IDT permit with
LCMSD during this five-year agreement would have been included.
The term of the agreement would have been effective July 1, 2023 –
June 30, 2028.
On November 16th, the parties met again. However, the offer was
rejected by LCMSD. We are disappointed that we were unable to come
to an agreement. Although the RUSD Board is not obligated to pay
anything for a transfer acceptance, RUSD's Board had compassion
for the situation that ECM families were in and therefore offered
funding to support the new 5-year agreement proposed by RUSD that
included the secured property tax and parcel tax that each IDT
family parcel produces.
If you are one of the 27 families on a current IDT agreement, you
will need to decide whether you would like to attend Reed schools
or apply for an IDT to continue attending LCMSD. If you ask for a
release from RUSD, Reed will grant that release and approve the IDT.
It will then be up to LCMSD to decide if they are approving the IDT
requests. Please know that you are always welcome here at RUSD.
Families that made the decision to come to Reed schools this year
have commented just how welcome they have felt and are all here to
support their East Corte Madera neighbors. Our District families,
administration and staff want to ensure that you all feel united
in our community and know that we are thrilled to have you here.
This is an amazing school district and we welcome your family
with open arms.
SUPERINTENDENT ZOOM CHAT - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1ST
Please join the Superintendent Chat on Zoom tomorrow from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM.
I will give an update on district topics and also have time for questions and answers.
View conference detailsJoin Zoom Meeting:
(US) +1 386-347-5053
If you are interested in more detailed information, please see below:
Best regards,
Dr. Kimberly McGrath
Superintendent
Reed Union School District
"We are even stronger together!"