One day after a Marin County elementary school teacher was charged with repeatedly molesting two children, his body was found floating off Drakes Beach, where his surfboard had washed ashore. Darren Michael Smith, 55, of Fairfax, taught music to children for nearly 24 years, the first 13 at elementary schools in Alameda County and the last 10 at the Mill Valley School District. On March 28, after someone accused Mr. Smith of abusing students, the district placed him on leave and reported the allegations to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office. Two days later, sheriff’s deputies arrested Mr. Smith and booked him into the county jail at 8 a.m. He was released early that afternoon after someone covered his $200,000 bond. The next morning, Mr. Smith drove to Drakes Beach and apparently paddled into the sea. At about 2:30 p.m., someone noticed his surfboard had washed ashore and called 911. First responders from various agencies, including the National Park Service and the Marin County Fire Department, spent three hours searching for Mr. Smith, whose body was found floating 2.5 miles northwest of the Drakes Beach parking lot and transported ashore by a Coast Guard helicopter. The coroner’s office conducted a routine toxicology examination but has not yet determined the cause of death. Mr. Smith died the day before he was scheduled to be arraigned in Marin County Superior Court on two felony counts of committing lewd or lascivious acts and continuous sexual abuse of a child, as well as several associated misdemeanor charges. Neither the sheriff’s office nor the school district disclosed the age or the gender of the victims. Mr. Smith’s arrest and subsequent death shocked parents, students and staff in the Mill Valley School District, which promptly scheduled Zoom meetings to process the events and offered counseling to anyone who requested it. “Thank you for your compassion and understanding as we navigate these challenging times together,” superintendent Elizabeth Kaufman wrote in a statement to parents posted on the district website. “Let us hold Mr. Smith’s family and loved ones in our thoughts as they face this loss.” According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr. Smith graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in English literature in 1990. His profile picture shows him wearing a white newsboy cap and playing a saxophone.  On his old Myspace page, he posted several Latin jazz recordings, including one from his old band, Agualibre.