School districts across California — and the country — are currently grappling with difficult budget cuts. For a district like Mill Valley, which offers incredible programming by talented staff, every cut has an impact. As president of the Mill Valley School District Board of Trustees, I am all too familiar with the need to balance competing priorities for students and the responsibility to ensure a balanced budget.

Earlier this year, MVSD made the difficult decision to eliminate its transitional kindergarten program — which prepares 4-year-olds to start kindergarten — to contend with a $7.3 million deficit.

In response, Marin County Office of Education Superintendent of Schools John Carroll issued a demand that the district rescind its decision or face severe repercussions from the county and state.

It is worth noting that other basic aid school districts in Marin, including Ross and Larkspur-Corte Madera, also do not provide TK, but have not been a target of Carroll’s selective “enforcement.” Additionally, eliminating TK is a practice that numerous basic aid districts in Marin have implemented to ensure fiscal solvency for nearly a decade, without enforcement from MCOE.

Basic aid school districts receive their monies through property taxes. Basic aid districts like ours do not receive appropriation from the state for TK. Unlike the requirement to offer kindergarten or other grade levels, the requirement to offer TK is conditioned upon the appropriation of these funds. MVSD receives no funding from the state for TK. MVSD has been able to fund the last three years of TK from high reserves. It utilized now sunsetted COVID-19 grants to fund other positions.

The decision to eliminate TK was not made easily or quickly. When it became clear that the budget deficit would require cuts for the district to maintain fiscal health and solvency, district officials surveyed our families to determine their priorities. The survey found that parents overwhelmingly valued having small class sizes and the best teachers in Marin County — both of which are proudly offered.

Should MVSD be required to provide a TK program, the repercussions would be huge and felt by every student and parent within MVSD. The district would need to cut other programs. Class sizes would increase significantly.

The role of MCOE is to ensure the fiscal solvency of local school districts, but Carroll has threatened legal action when district officials try to do just that. Not only is this move completely unprecedented, it reflects a lack of understanding of the impact that legal action will have on constituents. Lawsuits against school districts hurt students the most, as funds meant for their education are redirected to cover legal costs.

MVSD trustees wish to work collaboratively with MCOE to find a solution that satisfies everyone. We welcome the opportunity to work on ways to address the funding gap. To that end, we hope the county will join us in advocating for legislation to secure funding for TK from the state for districts like ours.

I also want to highlight how extraordinary our community has been in the face of these difficult decisions. It is a Mill Valley mantra that we get things done and the effort around TK has been no different. City officials have been a true partner throughout this, immediately engaging in discussions around how they could offer a program through the Mill Valley Recreation department for our families. Unfortunately, those efforts were stymied by a backlogged licensing process at the state that takes over six months. Our parents quickly established a nonprofit to raise the funds necessary for the district to fund the program for another year. Those fundraising efforts are ongoing and the $500,000 contribution from the Kiddo organization is a huge boost.

The district remains committed to early education and understands that the TK program has been both successful and much-loved by the community. All of us are hopeful these community-driven efforts will enable us to continue TK and we appreciate our community’s support as we navigate these difficult times and ensure the district’s fiscal solvency. This decision, although heartbreaking, ultimately serves our most important group — our students.

Sharon Nakatani is president of the Mill Valley School District Board of Trustees.