Keri Brenner is a reporter covering K-12 and higher education. The Sausalito Marin City district has an enviable amount of money. In Sausalito, which is 85% white, parents who put their children in a multiethnic public school say they feel tainted by intimations of racism and frustrated that a desegregation effort their school started years ago has been overlooked. I am excited that the board and I came to a mutual agreement regarding the terms of my contract extension, Garcia said. After a school board election decided by just eight votes, members aligned with Bayside MLK gained a 3-2 majority. Here are some tips for cooling off, Column: On the picket line, a telling alliance between hotel workers and screenwriters, Man sentenced in California smuggling crash that killed 13 people, How hot will it get in Southern California this weekend? They say you cant come home again, but Im home, he said. Its 104 students are predominantly African American and Latino. McCoy, 46, of Petaluma, said in an. Even with the cuts, however, the evidence of the $4.5 million is apparent in the Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. K-8 classrooms. Founding parents of varying races envisioned, as one recalled, a little, hippie-dippy, artsy, Montessori-type school where everyone could excel. Willow Creek Academy opened with about 40 students. At the same time, he said he had many friends and mentors in Sausalito and Marin City and spent a lot of time in those Southern Marin towns. So what went wrong? "What we're doing is not for the faint of heart," said Garcia. Theres no debate that the quality and dedication of the districts teachers is important to helping students learn, achieve and, in some cases, stop parents from moving their children to other schools. The trustees will initiate the search process for a new superintendent and will seek stakeholder input throughout the process, Hough said. To my knowledge, that was a full stop, Barrow said. The pay rate would play out to $275,000 full time, about what the superintendent makes in San Francisco and much larger school districts across the state. Aeries Online Enrollment Sausalito agrees to desegregate schools after state attorney general's Debra Turner is a new member of the Sausalito Marin City School Board. The Sausalito Marin City School District (SMCSD) is committed to ensuring equal, fair. Sausalito Marin City School District superintendent Itoco Garcia could leave his post at the end of the year. And while many Marin City families sent their children to Willow Creek Academy, others did not want to abandon Bayside MLK, a school that had been a part of their families for generations. www.smcsd.org A Marin school district superintendent is on a paid leave of absence after he was. There is both good news and bad news for public education in the states 2023-2024 budget, which was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. The Shopping Spree will take place on August 6th at the Target in Marin City and is being sponsored by The Salvation Army. Despite the budget problems and the community discontent, Garcia led the district through the tumultuous unification of a charter school and traditional public school under a 2019 desegregation order from the state attorney generals office. The new school board moved to strip Willow Creek of roughly one-fourth of its budget, about $1 million, that it deemed excessive under state funding guidelines. Northwestern University had many anti-hazing tools in place before the football scandal. could pay $10 tolls, get extra lanes. Garcia managed that process through the trials of the coronavirus pandemic. Huffman currently serves as Associate Superintendent and Chief Academic Office for West Contra Costa Unified. Inquiries regarding nondiscrimination and civil rights should be directed to Superintendent Itoco Garcia, 415-332-3190 200 Phillips Dr. Marin City CA 94965. or via email at igarcia@smcsd.org. Gen. Xavier Becerra, the district is under a court order to end the unequal treatment of students who attend Bayside MLK. With the news that Dr. Garcia will complete his time here in the Sausalito Marin City School District after December of this year, it makes the upcoming school board election even more important, Conway said. Thank you for your interest in the Sausalito Marin City School District. Despite billions of dollars spent on educator recruitment efforts, the number of new teacher credentials issued by the state declined by 16% last year. The district received 27 applicants for Garcias post. With enrollment less than half the size of a typical elementary school, the district combined the schools - along with the names - at the middle school site. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Sausalito Marin City schools name new superintendent, It was a bloodbath: Rare dialysis complication can kill, and more could be done to stop it, Fairfax event puts wildlife within reach for children, Biden administration announces $39 billion in student debt relief following administrative fixes, One-third of Americans under heat alerts as blistering weather spreads from Southwest to California, he resigned amid a scandal and felony charges involving his role, Van Zant was recently one of 11 people indicted, allegations from the state Attorney Generals office, Miwok homeland site in Nicasio returned to tribe after 150 years. Most recently, she was an associate superintendent and chief academic officer at the West Contra Costa Unified School District, which has 32,000 students. Im just as excited about the work ahead as when I was appointed three years ago.. Sausalito Marin City School District superintendent to exit - MSN The board declined to renew his three-year contract that began July 1, 2019. To the Willow Creek faithful, the loss of a quarter of its taxpayer support makes no sense, given that the school educates three-quarters of the districts students. (Jocelyn Knight/Special to the Marin Independent Journal). The unified school, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, opened last fall. There was a miscommunication about content, he said. Superintendent Debra Bradley Grades K-8 Founded . "As the charter school grows we need to allocate more money to the charter school because they're entitled to it.". Yet small districts often spend a disproportionate amount on administration to perform all the required tasks - payroll, human resources, purchasing, special education services, maintenance - the list goes on. 5 talking about this. A state investigation and legal settlement required the district to unify the districts school and its charter campus. Still, this year the district is spending about $4.5 million and bringing in $4 million, digging into reserves to cover the extra costs. Sausalito Marin City School District gets county superintendent I must act now to address these issues aggressively in the best interests of the students, board, staff and community. Students attend a class at Bayside-Martin Luther King Academy school in Marin City, Calif. on Wednesday, March 26, 2014. Number of schools in Sausalito Marin City district. Valerie Pitts, a longtime Marin-area school administrator, served as superintendent from 2011 to 2013. Sausalito Marin City School District - Staff Directory All faiths. At the same time, the district has faced the challenge of retaining key administration staff and teachers have made it clear that the district needs to raise pay levels if they want to stop losing teachers to districts that offer higher salaries. Fired Hartford police recruit wins discrimination claim at CT Supreme Court, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Jen Conway, school parent and longtime district volunteer, agreed with Gonzlez. It differs from much of U.S. District teachers, some of whom had staged a one-day sickout, also said they supported the resignation petition. "There is no incentive," Kirst said. Stability is important to any school district, Garcia said. But questions abound: Could all 465 students fit on one campus? Three of the five trustees terms are up in the November elections: Ida Greens, Bonnie Houghs and Yasmine McGranes. Average class size is closer to 25 or 30 in most other state public schools. "It's their money, so they get to determine how they spend it.". Most classes have about 13 students, and on a recent day several had a teacher and an aide to help with lessons. The board is deeply appreciative of the work that Dr. Garcia has done for the district in implementing the attorney generals desegregation order, unifying our schools, Hough said, referring to a 2019 state directive that merged a charter school and the districts public school. Burke assigned Terena Mares, deputy county superintendent of schools, to assist the school district through the end of the school year. The population is poor enough that every student qualifies for subsidized school meals. 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SMCSD is a revolving door of ideologies, budgets, administrators, schools, students, board members, he said. At this point, a merger doesn't make sense to the community, Van Zant said. and meaningful access to employment and education services. Sausalito Marin City School District - Facebook . Most of the students at the district's K-8 school come from the less affluent Marin City and are predominantly African American. (Keri Brenner/Marin Independent Journal) The hiring of LaReesha. It never happened. The school is gleaming, well stocked and quiet. And weve been lied to before.. Mares and Buster will work with the districts new superintendent, Will McCoy. of Schools Mary Jane Burke wrote to the state superintendent, saying she believed that the school board members have placed the financial and educational interests of an independent charter school first. I am honored to have been able to serve the community for the past four years longer than any other superintendent in the past 30 years, Garcia said in the statement. Summer Jam Summer Camp! Sausalito Marin City - School Directory Details (CA Dept of Education) SDTA has polled its members two times in the last year with regard to whether they support Dr. Garcias vision and his leadership, said the letter from the Sausalito District Teachers Association. The California State University system will soon welcome its first Latina chancellor. "This is a very strong community with a strong community identity.". I look forward to expanding our team so that we can better address the multiple issues facing our district, McCoy said. He said he was grateful for the help of Terena Mares, from the Marin County Office of Education, who spent time at the district assisting with administration. Tony Thurmond Coasts to Re-Election, Republicans Hope to Shake Wokeness With School Board Victories This November, Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and Lil Baby Stump for Proposition 28, Brad Coscarelli Drops Out of Sonoma County Superintendent's Race, California Teaching Credentials Decline by 16%, California Expands Dolly Partons Imagination Library to All 58 Counties, California Threatens Legal Action Against Any School District That Bans Books, Attorney General Issues Guidance on School Closures, Study Finds Steep Drop in Violence at California Schools. Two men from decidedly different worlds will play key roles in determining what happens next. Current efforts are underway to rebuild Bayside MLKs academic program. The kindergarten-through-eighth-grade campus in Sausalito, which opened in 2001, has won fierce commitment from parents and staff. First graders learn how to spell at Bayside-Martin Luther King Academy school in Marin City, Calif. on Wednesday, March 26, 2014. Still, the community is clinging to its one district school. Sausalito Marin City School District selects new superintendent Garcias annual salary of $195,000 remained the same under the contract extensions. To reel in spending, Van Zant is recommending cutting two teachers and one administrator as well as reducing counseling, art and Spanish programs. Lenora Hayden walks her granddaughter, Kailey Jones, 6 months, from Golden Gate Village apartments in Marin City, to Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy School, where her grandson attends. Ive had a lifelong aspiration to work on a national level, said McCoy, who was hired after former superintendent Steve Van Zant resigned in the wake of legal troubles in one of his previous school posts in another district. Sausalito Marin City School District urges patience amid fiscal jam Jill Tucker has covered education in California for 22 years, writing stories that range from issues facing Bay Area school districts to broader national policy debates. That charge has been vehemently denied by the board and charter school. Sausalito Marin City School District gets, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Sausalito Marin City School District gets county superintendent oversight, It was a bloodbath: Rare dialysis complication can kill, and more could be done to stop it, Fairfax event puts wildlife within reach for children, Biden administration announces $39 billion in student debt relief following administrative fixes, One-third of Americans under heat alerts as blistering weather spreads from Southwest to California, Miwok homeland site in Nicasio returned to tribe after 150 years. The California School Directory and related public school and district data files (collectively referred to as the "Directory"), contain information about California schools, districts, and school/district administrators that is voluntarily self-reported by local education agencies (LEAs) to the California Department of Education (CDE) as a p. and meaningful access to employment and education services. It's spitting distance from San Francisco and close to Mill Valley, Corte Madera and Larkspur. Sausalito Marin City School District - About Us The small district, local control model just doesnt work well., Its expensive, prone to insular politics, and is not providing the resources that children need, he said. SACRAMENTO - California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today announced that the California Department of Justice (DOJ) has entered into a settlement with the Sausalito Marin City School District (District) to address discriminatory treatment of students who were segregated into Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy (Bayside MLK). PDF Sausalito Marin City School District Certificated Salary Schedule Huffman presses Congress for special education funding. The district's money, however, comes primarily from Sausalito, where the average single-family home costs upward of $1.8 million. He said his deep ties and affection for the community will help guide him, along with lessons in restorative justice he learned getting his doctorate in education at UC Berkeley and running schools in nearby Hayward. A teddy bear lies on the floor of a 1st grade and kindergarten class at Bayside-Martin Luther King Academy school in Marin City, Calif. on Wednesday, March 26, 2014. A tiny Marin County district got California's first school Expansion of district offerings to include world languages, art and preschool instruction is clearly in the interest of our students, families, and the broader community, said a letter signed by nonstaff budget advisory committee members Conway, Bettie Hodges, Marilyn Mackel, Kirstin Thomas and Danelle Threatt. McCoy, 46, of Petaluma, said in an interview Friday that he accepted a position as vice president of education for No Bully, a national nonprofit based at the Presidio. Sausalito Marin City has more money because it is what's called a basic aid district, or one that gets more in local property taxes to fund schools than it would if it took the typical amount in state funding for each student. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. AcademyAbout Us The State Board of Educationhas approved a newmathframeworkthat will markedly shift guidelines formathcurriculum in schools. The decision was announced to the public after the board, which previously had extended Garcias three-year contract twice for six months each time, concluded its closed session. pic.twitter.com/PVTmab9XYq, Keri Brenner (@KeriWorks) June 21, 2019. "What it shows is you have to bribe them with significant amounts of money.". A merger would have Bayside MLKs 104 students join Willow Creeks 361 pupils, who are 42% white, 27% Latino, 10% African American, with the balance of multiple and other races. I cannot wait for a lot of our black and brown boys to see what they can accomplish if they work hard., Van Alst said she appreciated Garcias energy and sentiments of unification and collaboration going forward., Trustee Josh Barrow voted no, saying it was not personal to Garcia, whom Barrow said he has know for decades., My no vote is not (about) Itoco, but it is a vote on principle about the size of this contract, Barrow said. Garcia, who has a doctorate in education from UC Berkeley, was very excited to have this opportunity to go on this journey with all of you, he told the board and audience of more than 50 people after Thursdays vote. As a result of the desegregation complaint by California Atty. He has a part-time contract, earning $165,000 annually plus benefits to work three days a week. All teachers get a class period for preparation, a rare benefit for elementary-level teachers. The school's administrative offices are in the Martin Luther King Jr. Academy facility in Marin City. City of Sausalito Adam Politzer, City Manager 420 Litho Street Sausalito, CA 94965 . The filing period opens Monday. What is Pennsylvanias favorite ice cream flavor? This has always been a labor of love, he added. We're excited to share David Finnane, the principal at Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, and Eveta Jackson, who spent nine years in the Santa Rosa School District, have been. Members of districts budget advisory committee said it is not clear how the expected $3.4 million in revenue from recently signed state child care contracts would help finance needed teaching positions in languages and other subjects. Meanwhile, the makeup of the school board has now changed. "The fear is if you lose the school, if you lose the post office, you're not a town anymore," he said. Leaders of the traditional public school and the charter campus think they have an answer: combine the two schools. The superintendent, Steve Van Zant, is new this year. He spent 12 years as a teacher and instructional coach and six years as a middle school and elementary school administrator; he has also served as an educational consultant. LaReesha. Few small districts want to lose their local control, Kirst said. The district, which has had decades of turmoil and debate over the allocation of money, staff and other resources between Bayside MLK and Willow Creek, is still facing allegations from the state Attorney Generals office that it violated state anti-discrimination laws by running a segregated school at Bayside MLK. A fiscal review panel found that Willow Creek supporters, who won a majority on the school board in 2008, focused more attention and resources on the charter school than on the shrinking traditional campus. The announcement came after a dozen parents, teachers and community members sent letters to the district calling for the board to replace Garcia.