The State of California announced that funding for all public schools would be withheld for the month of September on August 23. In total, about $6.7 million originally allocated for Marin public schools will be postponed until the month of October.

There will be no impact here at the Tamalpais Union High School District, or any of the elementary schools inside of the Mill Valley School District.

This is because these schools are not “Revenue Limit” districts, meaning that schools do not draw their funding exclusively from the state. Instead, Tam draws funding from the Tam High Foundation, with Redwood and Drake drawing from their own funds. The six Mill Valley elementary schools, as well as Mill Valley Middle School, draw from Kiddo. Tam Unified High School District superintendant Laurie Kimbrel said, “In fact, because of the recent cuts from the legislature, we had not planned on receiving any money from the state in September. So, moving zero money from September to October obviously won’t impact us. “

However, for other schools in “Revenue Limit” districts, the situation is far more drastic. Because schools in districts such as Novato, San Rafael Elementary and Ross Valley rely on the state for their funds, they must borrow money to cover their financial expenses such as payroll and maintenance. Every time a district needs to borrow money, it has to pay extra to cover the interest loan, wasting money that could be used for the school. Kimbrel said, “It is unfair for the state to pass on their financial troubles to school districts who then have to pay to borrow money. “