2025-26 School Board Talking Points on Five State and Federal Issues
The official document
What the district published
This is the source material — exactly as released by RUSD. The plain English translation below is this site's version, written for community members who shouldn't need a budget degree to understand where their school dollars go.
Original PDF coming soon — check reedschools.org for the source document.
In plain English
What this document actually says
This document provides Reed Union School District board members with background information and key talking points on five legislative issues for 2025-26. The main focus is special education underfunding: RUSD spent $3.5 million on special education in 2024-25 but received only $154,000 (4.4%) from federal sources and $793,000 (22.5%) from the state, forcing the district to cover $2.6 million (73%) from general funds. Other topics include artificial intelligence in education, the increasing burden of public records requests (one request required 20 staff hours), unclear anti-discrimination book laws that could lead to censorship, and inefficiencies in AB2534's teacher background check requirements.
What this means for your family
Special education costs are absorbing 73% of district resources that would otherwise support all students and programs. This means less money available for general education teachers, programs, and classroom materials. The district is also spending significant staff time on public records requests and navigating unclear state laws, which takes educators away from direct student support. Board advocacy on these issues aims to secure more state and federal funding to reduce these pressures.
Summaries are AI-assisted and based on the original district document shown above. Nothing has been editorialized — interpretations are clearly labeled. This site is maintained by Lina Godfrey's campaign as a community resource.