Reed Union School District — November 2026
Lina
Godfrey
For Reed Union School District Board of Trustees
Every child deserves a school that sees them fully — their strengths, their needs, and their limitless potential — and rises to meet them where they are.
Every community deserves a public school district that hears parents and grandparents, neighbors and longtime residents fully — whether or not they have a child in a classroom today — and amplifies their voices, turning community insights into action.
Our District, In Plain English
This isn't just a campaign site.
It's a public resource I built for our community, translating key district documents, indexing board meetings, digesting data, and tracking Reed Union's commitment to our children. Free. No login.
Use it whether you vote for me or not.
Key district documents, translated into plain English.
Budgets, LCAP, task force reports — every source linked, nothing editorialized.
Every meeting transcribed, searchable, and timestamped.
Listen to the full meeting — every word transcribed, searchable, and timestamped.
Try balancing the ~$1.5M gap yourself.
Five real levers, real numbers. The choices are more straightforward than the headlines suggest.
Try the levers to balance the budget here.One search across key documents and board meetings.
Platform
This is where I stand.
Six priority pillars built from what I've seen as a parent, a researcher, and a community member. These shape the principles I will strive for as a trustee.
Tap any pillar to read the full position.
Where Do You Stand?
Now you rank your priorities.
Drag to rank these six RUSD issues by what matters most to you. Then see where I stand — and which pillar each issue belongs to.
Schools built for every kind of learner from the start — not retrofitted as an afterthought — are better schools for all kids
The district should publicly evaluate which programs are working and phase out the ones that aren't
Every student — struggling or advanced — deserves a curriculum that actually challenges them
Social-emotional skills — resilience, empathy, self-regulation — belong in every classroom, every day
Board votes, budget decisions, and meeting records should be easy for any parent to find and understand
Families should have real input before major decisions are made — not just a comment period after
For Every Resident, Not Just Parents
Strong schools hold your home's value.
We all want our property values high and ever increasing. For most people, a home is their life's biggest investment, and the most personal one too.
In a district like Reed Union, school quality is one of the biggest reasons homes here hold their value. You don't need a child in a classroom to have a stake in it. A strong, well-run district helps protect the single largest investment most families ever make. When the schools slip, it doesn't just cost students. It shows up on every street.
Stewardship You Can Check
I read the budget so you don't have to.
Your tax dollars deserve someone who reads the budget closely. I read the budget documents, I track the reserves, I attend the meetings, and I question what programs cost and whether they actually work. You don't need kids in the schools to want a trustee who treats public money that way.
Don't take my word for it. Move the levers yourself and see the real trade-offs behind every budget.
Understand the Budget
How does a school district balance its budget?
Reed Union's adopted FY26-27 budget carries a structural gap of approximately $1.50M — narrowed from the $1.83M gap in FY25-26, but still requiring action. If left unaddressed, reserves will fall below the 27% policy floor by FY28-29. These are the five real levers the board can pull. Try them yourself.
RUSD ended FY25-26 with reserves at 36.5% — above the 27% policy floor. The board can draw from reserves again in FY26-27, but each year of drawdown erodes the cushion. By FY28-29, projections show reserves at 24.3% — below the 27% floor — if no structural changes are made.
Source: FY 2026-27 Annual Budget for Adoption (June 2026)
Local school parcel taxes require 2/3 voter approval. RUSD's most recent parcel tax measure passed in 2016. A new measure could raise $1–2M annually at roughly $300–500/parcel/year. Lead time: ~18 months to place on ballot and collect first revenues.
Source: CA Education Code §5096.2; Marin County voter data
The RUSD Foundation raises approximately $1.75M annually to support arts, library, and tech enrichment programs that cost roughly $2.93M total. The ~$1.18M gap comes from the general fund — reducing it means scaling back programs families value most.
Source: RUSD Foundation reports; FY25-26 budget actuals
Capital maintenance projects can be deferred to future bond cycles. RUSD completed an updated facilities master plan in 2024. Deferral provides short-term budget relief but compounds future costs — deferred maintenance typically costs 3–5× more when eventually addressed.
Source: RUSD Facilities Master Plan 2024; FY26-27 Capital Budget
Staffing is the largest budget category. RUSD can manage reductions through natural attrition (retirements, voluntary departures) without layoffs — typically saving $80–150K per open position not backfilled. Current enrollment trends and student-teacher ratios constrain how far this lever can go.
Source: RUSD FY26-27 Budget for Adoption; staffing actuals
Want to see where the district's reserves stand right now — and where they're headed?
Track the District's Reserves →Sources: FY 2026-27 Annual Budget for Adoption (June 2026); FY 2025-26 First Interim Report (December 2025); Multi-Year Financial Projection; Board Policy 3105.1. Lever amounts are illustrative — real budget decisions involve greater complexity and community input.
Track Record
I have receipts.
Years of community work, itemized. No titles, no consultants — just the things I actually did.
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LINA GODFREY FOR RUSD
TIBURON, CA 94920 · NOV 2026
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Community Voices
What matters most to you?
I'm gathering what families and residents across Reed Union care about most. Here's the early signal from people who've already weighed in — and the priorities I'm listening on. Add yours.
Your voice matters here.
Anonymous. No login. No email. Just a sentence or two about what matters most to you. It shows up right here after a quick review.
Why I’m running
“Because exceptional public education requires more than good intentions. It requires courageous governance, rigorous standards, and unequivocal transparency for a community whose voice is genuinely heard at every level of decision-making.”
About Lina
I started with a playground, not politics.
When my oldest child was young, I kept noticing how many of this county's beautiful, expensive playgrounds were impossible for her to use — not because of her disability, but because of how they were designed. Built for the default child, not for every child. That changed how I read a school policy, how I listen at a board meeting, how I evaluate a curriculum adoption process. The question I can't stop asking is: who was in the room when this was designed? Because that determines whose needs actually get met.
I'm a product of public education start to finish; I went to public schools K through 12, then undergrad and a master's at a California public university. I believe in holding our public schools to a high standard and designing them to serve all students and meet them where they are. I've lived in Tiburon for 11 years and have a stake in this district that's both immediate and long: two of my children are in RUSD now, and two more will be soon. I have children who need more support and children who need more challenge, and I have learned firsthand how much it matters when a school is equipped to meet both. That experience is what drives my conviction that differentiation isn't a luxury. It's the job.
Since having children in the district, I've attended nearly every school board meeting, already. Long enough to know the difference between how things are presented and how they actually run.
My background is in research, public health, and advocacy — investigative work, international development, research at a national science lab. I know how to find signal in noise and ask the question behind the question. I bring that same lens to RUSD: evidence, accountability, and systems built around outcomes instead of assumptions. But what grounds me most is not my academic or professional background. It is time spent in classrooms, in IEP meetings, on playgrounds, and in the unglamorous reality and lived experience of how school systems actually work for students and families.
Where I've already done the work:
In RUSD:
- LCAP District Advisory Committee
- Strategic Planning Committee
- Three task forces (AI, MOSAIC, Wellness & Belonging)
- Classroom and playground volunteer
- Attends school board meetings already as a matter of practice
Across the town + county:
- President of Belvedere-Hawthorne Nursery School
- Appointed to Tiburon Diversity & Inclusion Task Force
- Leadership member of Parents for Parks + Rec (Tiburon)
- Board member, Dedication to Special Education (MCOE), co-chairing its grant-making program
- Board member, Marin Center for Independent Living
- Pioneered the Marin Inclusive Playground at McInnis Park from idea to reality, actively involved in design and outreach
I'm an education and public health advocate, a parent of many (with different needs and perspectives), and someone who shows up...and I'm bringing everything I have to this district.
Endorsements
The people who support me.
These are neighbors, educators, and community leaders who have watched this district up close — and believe it deserves what I aim to bring to it.
Businesses & Organizations
Sam's Anchor Cafe
Tiburon
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