Ross Valley School District

November 19, 2021

Dates Ahead

As we look forward to Fall Break, we hope that however you are planning to enjoy the next week off of school, you are able to relax, rejuvenate, connect with family and friends, and do what brings you joy. Although these past 20 months have presented many challenges, may you find a moment to reflect on the people, places, and things you are grateful for and acknowledge what makes the most positive difference in your life. We have a lot to celebrate and be thankful for in Ross Valley, most importantly its relationships. To that end, we will continue our work to ensure everyone feels and experiences belonging, acceptance, and inclusion. We are so incredibly proud of our resilient students, our committed and creative staff, and our generous and supportive parents and community partners; all of those elements working in unison are what make this a unique and special place. A huge thank you to each and every one of you -- our students, teachers, faculty, staff, parents/guardians, and families -- for joining in this partnership.

This edition of Updates provides a lot of important information. We hope you are able to take the time to review and find it informative and useful.

11.22-26: Fall Break; NO SCHOOL

Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS)

Our last Updates focused on one of our priorities, delving deeper into our racial equity work. This edition provides an overview of another of our priorities, refining our MTSS.

A major focus of our Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) Plan (approved by the Board on June 1, 2021) is the refinement of the District’s MTSS, a comprehensive framework that aligns academic, behavioral, and social-emotional learning in a fully integrated system of support for the benefit of all students. MTSS offers the potential to create systematic change through intentional integration of services and supports to quickly identify and meet the needs of all students.

This fall we have convened a representative team of teachers, instructional coaches, specialists and administrators to:

• More effectively and consistently address the needs of each student through data collection and analysis in order to differentiate instruction to accelerate or support their individual needs.
• Identify best practices in our intervention approaches and implement common practices across all campuses consistently to benefit all students.
• Nourish a dynamic and supportive environment for ongoing professional development, reflection, and collective action.

• Provide safe, equitable, and inclusive learning environments in which each student feels a sense of belonging and is respected, celebrated, and valued for their individual differences.
• Affirm the identities and contributions of all persons so each student can expand their perspectives and better see themselves and others as integral to the fabric and story of our schools, towns, county, region, state, and country.
• Ensure that each student has the access, opportunities, and support they need and does not encounter barriers to reach their full potential (academically and socially/emotionally) and to thrive, lead, and succeed in a diverse and global society.

Enrollment and Revenues

RVSD is paid differently than nearly all districts in Marin County. Our revenues are based upon student enrollment/attendance because our property taxes are lower than our Local Control Funding Formula for attendance (called state aid funded district). Other districts have higher property tax bases than this calculation and are provided the higher property tax amount (called community funded district).

One of the Board of Trustees agenda items from the November 9, 2021 meeting was on Assessing Declining Enrollment Impact. This agenda item discusses the impacts of declining enrollment on RVSD.

RVSD is not alone in having declining enrollment. In the past five years, public schools across the state have seen a drop in enrollment of more than 230,000 students, a trend that’s likely to continue, according to data from the California Department of Finance. In addition, Marin County schools decreased approximately 5% this school year.

At our December 14 Board Meeting, our Chief Business Official, Chris Carson, will provide further information on how declining enrollment will impact RVSD’s budget moving forward. Please contact Chris if you have any questions at ccarson@rossvalleyschools.org, or 415-451-4075.

Wondering what you may have missed in previous meetings:

• April 22, 2021: Budget Workshop Presentation  |  Recording of Budget Workshop
• June 15, 2021: 2021-22 Budget
• August 10, 2021: 2021-22 Budget Update

• Marin school enrollment down 5% for 2021-22 (Marin IJ 9/28/2021)
• School enrollment falling (Marin IJ 11/17/21)

Marin Schools are Committed to Efficiency & Effectiveness

Our school district is committed to partnering with other districts throughout the county to create greater efficiencies whenever possible and have done in many ways over the years, such as providing TK opportunities for students whose districts haven’t offered the program and sharing art and music teachers, school psychologists, and certificated librarians when full-time positions are not available. We’ll continue to look for ways to maximize opportunities, especially as the teacher shortage continues and as we are experiencing a decline of on-going revenues due to the current and projected continued decline of student enrollment throughout Marin and California. Stay tuned for more information about this is affecting our District.

In many other ways, collaboration is coordinated by the Marin County Office of Education (MCOE). The county-wide Efficiency and Effectiveness Committee (consisting of MCOE staff, trustees and superintendents) has created this very brief video, as well as this website, for the public to learn more about our work together. We hope you take a moment to check it out! Examples include, but are not limited to: special education, emergency preparedness, school law enforcement partnership, district business services, and crisis response. Over the next few months, the Efficiency and Effectiveness Committee will be adding additional (brief) videos highlighting specific collaborations. Stay tuned for more examples.

Universal Breakfast & Lunch to Begin in the 2022-23 School Year

In July 2021, Governor Newsom passed into law the Universal Meals program through the passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 130 which provides for free meals (breakfast and lunch) to all students who wish to receive them, regardless of socio-economic status. California districts must begin implementation in the 2022-23 school year with optional implementation this school year. Despite our interest in beginning sooner and like some other districts in Marin County, because of the kitchen capacity at our sites for additional warming and cooling appliances, we were unable to begin this year. We have begun preparations and will be ready to roll out the program next year when all schools in the District have the physical capacity to provide the required numbers of meals per day under this legislation. Stay tuned for more information for any students who wish to receive the free breakfast and/or lunch options.

Transition Kindergarten (TK) Expansion to Begin in the 2022-23 School Year

California is expanding the Transitional Kindergarten program. The expansion will essentially become California’s version of universal preschool and will be phased in beginning next school year and continuing until the 2025-26 school year, by which time all 4 year olds will be eligible to attend TK. The phased-in

• For the 2022-23 school year, eligible students must turn 5 between September 2, 2022 and February 2, 2023.
• For the 2023-24 school year, eligible students must turn 5 between September 2, 2023 and April 2, 2024.
• For the 2024-25 school year, eligible students must turn 5 between September 2, 2024 and June 2, 2025.
• For the 2025-26 school year, eligible students must turn 4 by September 1, 2025.

New Student Registration 2022-23

As we are hitting our stride this school year, we are already beginning to plan for next school year. If you have a child who will be entering a Ross Valley school in the 2022-23 school year or you know someone who will, online registrations begin on January 10, 2022 and in-person registration begins on February 2, 2022. To learn more, please visit the Student Registration page on our District website. Currently enrolled students do not need to re-register.

Upcoming School Tours

Will you have an incoming TK-5th grader or is your current 5th grader moving on to White Hill next school year or do you know someone who will? If so or if you are simply interested in visiting any of our schools, sign up for a tour. If the date listed for a site doesn’t work for you, check out each school’s webpage as future dates will be scheduled. Let your friends know!

Brookside: December 8 (11am) Please sign up for a tour HERE.

Hidden Valley: December 2 (11am) & December 13 (9:15am) Please call to reserve your spot 415.454.7490 or email mlewicki@rossvalleyschools.org.

Manor: December 7 (9am) & December 14 (9am) Please call to reserve your spot 415.453.1544 or email christelle@rossvalleyschools.org.

Wade Thomas: November 30 (9am) & December 9 (9am) Please sign up for a tour HERE.

White Hill: January 10 (9:30am) & January 25 (9:30am) Please sign up for a tour HERE.

Out-of-State COVID-19 Travel Guidance for TK-12 Students

The winter holiday season has arrived. If you make plans that will involve travel outside California, please keep the following Marin Health & Human Services COVID-19 guidelines in mind.

Fully vaccinated TK-12th grade students have no restrictions after traveling, testing is not required but is recommended on Day 5 after return, and should monitor for symptoms for 14 days.

As a reminder, a person is considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 after 2 weeks have passed since receipt of the second dose in a 2-dose series (ie. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) or 2 weeks after receipt of a single dose vaccine (ie. J&J’s Janssen).

Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated TK-12th grade students need to be on “modified quarantine” for 10 days after returning from out-of-state travel. They may attend school, ride the bus, and attend before-/after-care programs for in-person instruction and child care as long as they do not develop symptoms, wear a mask, monitor for symptoms for 14 days and get tested for COVID-19 5 days after return from out-of-state travel. During modified quarantine, students should refrain from socializing outside of school and going out in public. Modified Quarantine may be discontinued after 7 days with a negative test completed on Day 5 or later if they remain without symptoms. Without a negative test, unvaccinated students will need to quarantine at home for days 8-10 after which they may return to school as long as they are asymptomatic. If any symptoms develop, students should immediately self-isolate and get tested for COVID-19 or be evaluated by a healthcare provider.

Test Results Reporting 
Home antigen tests approved by the FDA for emergency use are fine for Day 5 testing. If you use this type of test, please label the test card with your child's name and the time & date it was taken and email your school’s Administrative Assistant (AA) a picture of the test results. If your child gets the test at a test facility, please email your school’s AA a copy of the test results.

Contact your site Administrative Assistant if you have any questions.

COVID-19 Public Health Update for the School Community

Join Dr. Willis and Dr. Lisa Santora for the next Community Update (for all school staff, teachers, parents/guardians, and the community) will be

• Thursday, December 9th @ 4 PM for a Public Health Update for the School Community with Dr. Matt Willis and Dr. Lisa Santora. Live Spanish Translation will be available. 

• ZOOM Link 
  Dial In: 408-638-0968 Webinar ID: 851 0374 8230
  Passcode: 839839 

• Unable to attend? The session will be recorded and posted on the Rethinking Schools website.

WE NEED YOU!

RVSD Updates provide information to our RVSD community from the Departments of Superintendent, Fiscal Services, Curriculum and Instruction, Food Service, Human Resources, Maintenance and Operations, Student Services, and Technology.  

www.rossvalleyschools.org  |  100 Shaw Dr. San Anselmo, CA 94960  |  415.454.2162