Tuesday, April 14, 2026

The Reed Union School District board's April meeting featured an in-depth report on the district's arts program, the first-year findings of its budget advisory task force, and approvals for accessibility improvements at Bel Air. Trustees also took up crossing-guard advocacy, enrollment and class-size trends, and how to structure future board-policy reviews.

Visual and Performing Arts (Prop 28) Update

The district's arts-integration specialist gave a detailed report on work funded in part through Proposition 28. She reported that 882 of the district's roughly 1,000 students received arts-integrated lessons this year, taught or co-taught across grades PK–8, often combining drama and visual art — including a "wind" class at Bel Air pairing math and music. She organized her work into four areas: classroom arts integration; arts enrichment (storytellers, including an Asian-storytelling artist for Lunar New Year and a reimagined-fairy-tale storyteller for sixth grade; films through the California Film Institute; a student TV-reporters club; a photography contest with the eighth-grade science teacher; and a calligraphy artist who worked with every Bel Air student ahead of an AAPI celebration); a partnership with Tiburon's Artist Laureate that produced an integrated third-grade field trip blending local history, science, and visual art; and community outreach. She also described a Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) task force, which includes two board members and is building a multi-year arts plan expected before the end of the school year.

Budget Advisory Task Force

Business official Dr. Kim presented emerging themes from the first year of the district's budget advisory task force, drawn from a survey and qualitative feedback. Participants showed a strong preference for a balanced approach, aligning decisions with student impact, and a low tolerance for structural risk or ongoing deficits — noting the district is not sheltered by the state under Proposition 98 and cannot simply raise revenue to close gaps. There was clear consensus that student support and wellness is the least appropriate area to cut, and a preference for handling staffing reductions through natural attrition rather than layoffs, including building a "laddered attrition" approach into multi-year projections. Dr. Kim said roughly 30 community members receive task-force communications but only 11 actively participated in the survey, and he encouraged broader participation and the inclusion of outside experts — for example in real estate or facilities use — as the work moves from identifying themes toward exploring revenue ideas such as endowments and legacy gifts.

Enrollment and Class Size

The board reviewed enrollment and class-size figures as of late April. Maintaining five kindergarten classrooms would raise the kindergarten ratio to about 21.4 students, still under the largest current kindergarten section of 22. Trustees voiced concern about class sizes creeping upward, tied the issue to community feedback favoring small early-grade classes, and discussed whether added classroom-aide support could help if an additional section was not feasible. Staff said they would continue monitoring the numbers, including the effect of families' private-school decisions.

Accessibility Improvements and Other Action

The board approved purchasing one wheelchair lift, related electrical work, and automatic door openers for the front and back of the main building at Bel Air, with staff noting additional lifts may be needed in future years as more buildings are made accessible. The board also approved a resolution recognizing the district's staff. In a discussion item, members weighed how best to structure ongoing board-policy review — whether through a board subcommittee (which would be subject to the Brown Act) or a proposal brought back by the superintendent and administration — and agreed to start by having a trustee work with staff and revisit the approach.

Reports and Community Items

The PTA and Foundation reported on a parent education event by ScreenSense at the library, a PTA-sponsored kindergarten music performance, and the Foundation's year-end gala (individual tickets $225, with sponsor-table options). The superintendent reported the district is adopting a new family-communication tool, supported by a multi-year PTA contribution, and listed upcoming open houses (Bel Air April 23, Reed April 30, Del Mar May 7). Board members reported on a regional reserve-policy symposium that validated the district's reserve work, the budget task force, and reading to students for "Read Across Reed." Trustees also discussed advocacy before the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM), which was finalizing its crossing-guard list on April 23, encouraging community members to submit public comment about specific intersections such as Tiburon Boulevard and Blackfield Drive, and noted next year's school bus passes would keep the same pricing, go on sale June 1, and include a minor route change to get East Corte Madera students to Reed earlier for breakfast. During public comment, a resident pitched a pedestrian-and-traffic "tunnel" concept he said the Town of Tiburon was beginning to study.