Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for Sept. 15, 2026

Schools help create sense of community in Ross Valley

At a party on Super Bowl Sunday, I had a moment of clarity when I looked around the room at people who had once been complete strangers back when my wife and I moved to San Anselmo with our two daughters in 2022. It struck me that over the years here, those strangers have become friends — people we can rely upon. And what brought us to this outcome were our neighborhood schools.

In San Anselmo and Fairfax, public schools are the backbone of community life. They’re where relationships form, whether in driveways on morning walks to school or at school-organized events. Our schools have an immense power to organically and invisibly knit together the social fabric that makes our community feel like home.

But that fabric is under strain. Ross Valley School District is facing a serious budget crisis. Without a meaningful increase in revenue, the district risks school closures and even state receivership. Losing local control would be devastating, not only for our kids, but for the identity and cohesion of our community.

That’s why I’m urging RVSD trustees and our community to support a substantial increase in the parcel tax on the ballot this year. A low-cost fix (or no fix at all) won’t protect what we’ve built here over decades and we need a measure that truly stabilizes our schools and preserves the community they create.

The sense of belonging my family felt during that party didn’t happen by accident. It was built over the years through our public schools. I urge residents to help protect that. Let’s keep our schools, and our community, strong for the long haul.

— Ben Lucchese, San Anselmo

TUHSD report on grades raises too many questions

I am writing in response to the article published Feb. 7 with the headline “Tamalpais Union high schools get mixed review on grades.” I found some of the responses from Tamalpais Union High School District officials to be somewhat bewildering.

The report on student grades did suggest possible problem areas, such as the district’s continuing failure to effectively reach Black students, but it provided little helpful information on student achievement, what the grades mean and how they were derived. I’m left with questions and would welcome the answers. Assuming the trustees are well-schooled in the subject of student evaluation, I would think they might have asked them.

I want to know the basis for grade assignments across classes and subject areas. Were the grades based solely on test results? Was student written work utilized? I want to know if effective student participation in class discussions counts. Was student improvement at all a measure?

Additionally, I need to know if there are different grading trends across subject areas. I hope teachers were consulted prior to the release of this report. What is their takeaway on the data? There should be discussion regarding student performance as related to the socio-economic levels of students.

Of course student performance is very important, but I find the simplistic focus on letter grades in a vacuum that exists when those questions are unanswered simply astonishing.

I don’t expect trustees to have the expertise to be able to have asked those questions. From what I have read, it appears no one did. The fault lies in the administrative report itself, simplistic in its very nature and presented in a vacuum. There may be an administrator capable of answering those questions but, if so, that was not evident.

— Mark Phillips, Woodacre

Measure AA funding needed to change Chileno Valley Road

I am writing in support of Jerry Meral’s Marin Voice commentary published Jan. 31 with the headline “Chileno Valley Road crossing is deadly for our newts.”

I worked on habitat restoration projects in West Marin for over 40 years and am now a member of the Chileno Valley Newt Brigade. For seven years, our volunteers have been gently ferrying newts to safety on rainy evenings. But despite rescuing over 40,000 animals, thousands have been killed. Newts aren’t the only ones in danger: Last year alone, 187 California red-legged frogs, a federally protected species, were found dead. I have personally scraped pond-turtle pieces off the road.

Hand-carrying animals across a busy road is not a permanent solution. What’s needed is infrastructure that allows wildlife to cross safely on their own.

The Transportation Authority of Marin is currently deciding Measure AA funding priorities. This is a rare opportunity to support a planning grant for permanent undercrossings that protect wildlife, improve safety, provide needed road improvements along Laguna Lake, and address the environmental goals included in Measure AA.

I urge TAM to make this project a priority.

— Liza Prunuske, Occidental