Marin public schools are set to receive $7.86 million in state block grants to boost learning for teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals and classified staff.
The educator effectiveness grants are to be used over the next five years to “promote educator equity, quality and effectiveness,” according to the state Department of Education. The school districts are required to have a plan to spend the money approved and adopted by Dec. 30.
Statewide, public schools and charters are expected to receive a total $1.5 billion.
In Marin, the largest school district, Novato Unified, will receive the most money: $1.636 million. San Rafael City Schools will receive the second largest amount: $1.33 million combined for elementary and secondary schools. The Tamalpais Union High School district will get $1.15 million.
“The Educator Effectiveness Block Grant funds will provide important resources for our schools to support new educators with teacher mentors, develop strategies to address the social emotional needs of students in a positive school climate and to provide academic supports for English learners,” Mary Jane Burke, Marin superintendent of schools, said in an email.
David Tow, a teacher at Terra Linda High School, said he wants to see districts use the money to strengthen teacher networks and to help faculty learn how to target the basics in curriculum development.
“Our time, space and resources are what we spend money on, and it reflects what we value,” said Tow, a 2021-22 California educational policy fellow at the leadership nonprofit TeachPlus.org.
If he had his wish, Tow said, his three top spending priorities would be: “expand and empower” collaborations among teachers to dissolve silos that promote isolation; focus on “standards-based instruction” as opposed to “throwing everything” at students and overwhelming them; and develop more “teacher-leaders” who can coach newer educators.
San Rafael’s high school district is expected to receive $512,657 in the block grant program, according to a plan approved last week by the Board of Education. The San Rafael elementary school district will get $813,883.
The high school grant will go, in large part, toward “supporting our EL students and coaching,” said Tyler Graff, San Rafael’s secondary education director, referring to English language learners.
“We’re super-excited for this half-million,” Graff said, adding that the grant will be spent at $100,000 a year. “We want to keep it sustained over the next five years.”
Stephanie Kloos, the San Rafael elementary education director, said part of the allocation will go to “coaching and mentoring” district librarians.
“We want to think about what are the skills that our students need right now, especially related to research,” Kloos said.
In the Sausalito Marin City School District, a $92,815 allocation will go toward a range of support for beginning teachers, particularly in dealing with difficult issues such as restorative justice or cultural sensitivity, according to Superintendent Itoco Garcia.
Garcia told trustees at their Dec. 16 meeting that the district will use about $30,000 of the grant per year for the next three years — instead of stretching it out over five years.
The main spending priorities will be $10,000 per year for teacher coaching and professional development; $7,000 per year to coach newer teachers on responsiveness around cultural sensitivity and language usage in classrooms; $7,000 per year on restorative justice coaching; and $3,000 per year on special education training.
Other allocations for Marin schools and districts include: the Marin County Office of Education, $514,034; Ross Valley Charter, $36,479; Phoenix Academy, $7,948; Bolinas-Stinson Union School District, $74,890; the Miller Creek School District, $581,120; the Kentfield School District, $267,477; the Laguna Joint School District, $9,856; and the Lagunitas School District, $69,865.
Others grant recipients include the Larkspur-Corte Madera School District, $305,637; the Mill Valley School District, $660,697; the Nicasio School District, $13,673; Novato Charter, $43,484; the Reed Union School District, $342,026; the Ross School District, $131,067; the Shoreline Unified School District, $190,607; and the Ross Valley School District, $414,768.
