Wade-Thomas Education Settlement: Findings, Terms, and Compliance

The Sausalito Marin City school desegregation settlement is a 2019 agreement between the California Attorney General and the Sausalito Marin City School District that followed a two-year state investigation concluding the district had “knowingly and intentionally maintained and exacerbated” racial segregation between its two schools.¹ It was described at the time as California’s first school desegregation order in roughly 50 years.²

What the State Found

The investigation focused on two schools: Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, which served a predominantly minority, lower-income population in Marin City, and Willow Creek Academy, a charter school drawing wealthier, mostly white families from Sausalito. The state concluded that starting in 2013, the district had channeled funding, programming, and resources to Willow Creek while stripping Bayside MLK of math, science, and English programs.¹

The sharpest finding involved discipline. African American students in a district-funded program lost 66 times as many instructional days to suspensions as white students, which the state identified as the largest discipline disparity of any public school district in California.¹ The Attorney General’s office determined these practices violated the equal protection guarantees of both the California Constitution and the U.S. Constitution.

What the Settlement Required

The agreement gave the district five years to fully desegregate, with long-term measures beginning in the 2020–21 school year. Core requirements included:

A comprehensive plan to attract a diverse student body to both campuses, including transportation for all students and interdistrict attendance agreements.
A court-appointed monitor to track compliance, plus a Desegregation Advisory Group meeting twice a year and publishing public reports.
A counseling program for students who attended Bayside MLK between 2013 and 2019, and a scholarship fund providing two years of college or trade school funding.
Credentialed teachers for grades seven and eight, with long-term strategies for teacher recruitment and retention.
Escalating remedial measures and an extension of the plan if the district failed to desegregate within five years.¹

Unification of the Two Schools

To comply with the order, the district merged Bayside MLK and Willow Creek Academy into a single school. Willow Creek voluntarily surrendered its charter effective June 30, 2021, and the unified school launched on July 1, 2021.³ The new entity operates as a PreK–8 dual-language school across two campuses: a kindergarten-through-fifth-grade campus in Sausalito, and a pre-kindergarten, transitional kindergarten, and grades 6–8 campus in Marin City.⁴

To fund facility upgrades at both campuses, the school board placed a $41.6 million bond measure on the November 2020 ballot, which voters approved.³

Where Compliance Stands Now

The five-year desegregation timeline ran through approximately 2024, and compliance has drawn renewed state attention. In February 2024, Deputy Attorney General Garrett Lindsey sent a letter to the district’s legal counsel expressing “concerns about compliance with certain Judgment requirements” and demanded updated data on at least 10 issues, including student discipline referrals, suspensions, special education services, and campus reconfiguration plans.⁵

Superintendent LaResha Huffman acknowledged that issues had “slipped through the cracks,” citing falling enrollment, a precarious budget, and high staff turnover. The district had previously received a “qualified” budget status, signaling uncertainty about its ability to meet financial obligations, and closed a $1.4 million gap for the 2024–25 school year through layoffs and a plan to consolidate middle school students onto the Sausalito campus.⁵

How the Case Began

The legal process traces back to August 2016, when Marin County Superintendent of Schools Mary Jane Burke issued a report alleging that the Sausalito Marin City school board had a conflict of interest, prioritizing Willow Creek Academy’s financial and educational needs over those of the broader student body.⁶ The California Department of Education reviewed the complaint and referred the matter to the Attorney General. By November 2016, the AG’s office had opened a formal investigation into whether the district was complying with state and federal anti-discrimination laws.⁴

In December 2018, the Attorney General notified the district that it had “violated and has continued to violate the California Constitution and anti-discrimination laws with respect to Bayside Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy.”⁴ The formal complaint for injunctive relief and the settlement followed in August 2019.

1
California Attorney General. Attorney General Becerra: Sausalito Marin City School District Agrees to End Segregation
2
Los Angeles Times. Desegregation Order in Sausalito Marin County
3
Marin Independent Journal. Sausalito Marin City School District Sets Unification Date
4
Sausalito Marin City School District. Desegregation and Unification Timeline
5
Marin Independent Journal. Sausalito Marin City School District Fiscal Pinch Draws AG’s Scrutiny
6
Redwood Bark. Historic Settlement Passed to Desegregate Sausalito Marin City School District