Sausalito Marin City School District superintendent gets contract extension

After months of controversy, trustees of the Sausalito Marin City School District have approved a two-year contract extension for the superintendent.

The trustees voted 3-2 in favor of the deal for LaResha Huffman, whose three-year contract expires on June 30. Bonnie Hough, Caroline Tiziani and Rebecca Lytle were in the majority, and Lauren Walters and Danielle Diego dissented.

Huffman’s annual salary will be $241,000, plus a monthly $200 car allowance, effective July 1. She will be eligible for a 3% raise in the second year of the contract, pending a positive performance review.

Huffman’s original three-year contract started at $225,000 a year. In late 2024, the trustees approved 4% raise, bringing her annual salary to $234,000.

In several parent and teacher surveys over the past year, a majority of respondents said they were dissatisfied with interactions and operations involving Huffman and her administration. They have called for Huffman to be replaced.

Last year, 92% of the members in the district’s teachers union, the Sausalito District Teachers Association, voted in favor of a no-confidence resolution regarding Huffman’s leadership. They faulted Huffman for alleged misrepresentations to the board and dismissing staff priorities in professional development, among other complaints.

“I recognize the point of view of the teachers in our district and the parents in our district,” Walters said before the vote at the Feb. 11 board meeting. “The community concerns were all sincerely expressed.”

Trustees in the majority said they have heard all the comments from staff and the community and “are committed to addressing them,” said Tiziani, the board president.

Hough and others said the momentum in recent months was worth preserving.

“We need to come together as a community to keep moving forward,” Hough added. “We need some stability, and we also need some healing.”

As part of the contract approval, the board approved the hiring of a facilitator to help Huffman and teachers and parents build better relationships.

“There have been so many iterations,” Hough added, referring to a series of district superintendents and different administration structures over the past decade. “Starting all over again does not feel to me like we would be moving forward in the right direction.”

After the vote, Huffman said, “I think the board knows that since they hired me, I have had high expectations. I have high expectations for myself, and high expectations for my staff.”

“Change has been difficult, especially if things are already fractured,” she said.

Huffman said that while the district has had progress and growth, “we still have a way to go.”

“I’m committed to my goal of this district being the best school district in Marin County,” she said.

Members of the public urged Huffman to focus on bringing the district, the teachers and the community together around a common vision.

“We need to have those specific visions and measures to move forward,” said Marilyn Mackel, a Marin City community activist. “The expectations have to be high, especially with the superintendent, the board and the staff.”

She added that she agreed with teachers and community members who objected in the surveys to some of the top district administrators working remotely for a portion of the work week.

“The time for virtual work has passed, it’s done, it’s history,” Mackel said. “If something happens and we can’t get people here, and they are coming from far away, it’s a dangerous situation.”

The school district has 263 students from transitional kindergarten to eighth grade at its campus in Sausalito. The district offices are in Marin City.