The Sausalito Marin City School Board reached a milestone moment in its political and legal maelstrom, voting 4-0 to start working toward uniting its two schools.
It is going to take a unified solution to fix the district’s current mess, one that has been labeled by the state attorney general as a violation of state anti-discrimination laws.
That 4-0 vote by the board may be a step toward resolving that serious ruling and improving educational opportunities for all of the district’s students.
The district has two campuses, the Bayside-Martin Luther King Jr. Academy in Marin City and the Willow Creek Academy charter school in Sausalito.
The division is stunning with 410 pupils at Willow Creek and 124 at Bayside-MLK.
That split has been the source of recent budget struggles. That, together with poor student test scores, led to the state investigation. Bringing the two schools and their students together is going to take a strong community consensus and commitment.
But reaching a community-based solution to a community problem is going to take time. The school board’s methodical approach makes sense.
The two recent school board elections were a sign that voters want this issue resolved, in a way that benefits all students, today’s and those in the future.
The board has started the process by forming a subcommittee, comprised of Trustees Debra Turner and Caroline Van Alst. Both are veteran board members. They represent balance in this debate. Their job will be to look at all possible options and report back to the board in six months — or sooner.
Their report should reflect every option and the variables they looked into. Informing the public is going to be important in the school board as all district stakeholders seek to reach a lasting solution.
Turner called the board’s decision to move forward, “a historic moment.”
Trustee Bonnie Hough stressed the need for community input, including some creative thinking.
Both are right.
The board’s broad-based approach could break through a political and social logjam that has endured in the district for too long.
It is time for the focus to be on each and every student without the complexities of a two-school format and their location.
It is uncertain how the board’s strategy fits into the attorney general’s ruling as talks between state Attorney General Xavier Beccera’s deputies and the school board have been, sadly, kept under wraps with both sides mum on details or any progress.
But the board’s decision is a sign that it is poised for possible change and to seek unity and step away from long standing division. That means both sides of this debate need to be willing to budge and consider change that could benefit more than 500 children in the district.
