The woman who chaired or co-chaired seven parcel tax and bond campaigns for San Rafael City Schools is stepping away from public education governance.
Patty Garbarino resigned from the Marin County Board of Education, ending nearly 20 years representing Area 2, which covers a section of San Rafael. Her departure opens a trustee seat two years early and arrives as three San Rafael City Schools board seats head to the Tuesday, November 3 ballot.
Garbarino told the Marin Independent Journal she is leaving to focus on her expanded role as president and CEO of Marin Sanitary Service, the 260-employee waste management company founded in 1948, where her family has been involved since 1954, when her father, Joe Garbarino Jr., became an owner and partner. He died in 2024 at age 91.
"I was asked to be the chair of five parcel tax campaigns and two bond measures, which rebuilt the 10 schools in San Rafael after two prior campaigns had failed," Garbarino told the Marin IJ.
Those campaigns funded the parcel taxes San Rafael families still pay. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, SRCS levied $352.96 per parcel for the elementary district and $253.52 for the high school district, according to the district's parcel tax oversight page. Voters approved the current eight-year measures in May 2021.
A career rooted at San Rafael High
Garbarino's connection to San Rafael schools is personal. Her career in special education began in 1972 when, as a junior at San Rafael High School, she started volunteering at Forest Meadows Development Center, a facility for disabled children run by the Marin County Office of Education. She became a teacher at Forest Meadows and Marindale School in San Rafael in 1977, then launched Project Workability for at-risk youths at the county education office in 1987.
She has served 27 years on the board of Lifehouse, a San Rafael nonprofit providing residential housing and support services for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Former Marin County Superintendent Mary Jane Burke, who worked with Garbarino for 50 years, told the Marin IJ that Garbarino "has always been a fierce advocate for children and families whose voices too often go unheard."
What happens next
Under California Education Code Section 5091, the remaining board members have 60 days to either appoint someone to Garbarino's seat or call a special election. The Marin County Office of Education said the board will take up the question at its Tuesday, August 11 meeting.
Meanwhile, three SRCS board seats are on the Tuesday, November 3 ballot. The terms of Kennedy Rodas-Dias, Wing Keung Jason Lau, and Carolina Martin all expire. The initial nomination period closes Friday, August 7, with an extension to Wednesday, August 12 for any race where an incumbent has not filed.
No one has stepped forward yet.
Garbarino, in her July 27 interview with the Marin IJ, said she wants to make room for the next generation: "I firmly believe that folks my age need to mentor and share, with those who are younger, the opportunities and responsibilities we've had."
The Tuesday, August 11 county board meeting will determine whether San Rafael residents vote for Garbarino's replacement or whether the board fills the seat by appointment.
