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The San Ramon Valley Unified School District is tightening its purse strings once again, with a $26 million spending reduction plan approved by the Board of Education this week following numerous concerns raised by students, staff, teachers, trustees, and district administrators.
The comprehensive package of ongoing cost reductions throughout the district has been on the horizon since the budget for the current school year was approved, with the county office of education calling on the district to make a total of $37.5 million in cuts this year as a condition of their approval of the budget.
The board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the latest budget cut package proposed by Superintendent CJ Cammack, which marks the most significant cut to funding throughout the district after more than a year of discussions and smaller cuts in 2024.
Although the district saw some good news as of the Nov. 5 general election with the passage of Measure Q – which will renew the existing parcel tax measure that had been set to expire this summer – it came on the heels of an unsuccessful special election to pass both a renewal measure and a supplementary sales tax measure earlier in 2024.
Weeks after the passage of Measure Q, the board voted unanimously – but still reluctantly – to approve $3.5 million in cuts impacting substitute teachers and eliminating the substitute in residence program.
Cammack noted in his introduction of the item at the most recent board meeting that while he was cognizant of the impacts the current package of cuts could have on students – and the district overall – that a major part of his role in his first year on the job has been to analyze finances and come up with budgetary solutions.
Cammack noted that in his previous roles as a teacher, elementary principal, and director of special education, he had seen a need to explain the rationale behind any proposed changes and to emphasize the potential benefits, adding that the cuts on the table this week were a different situation.
“That’s just not present in these budget reductions, and I think we have to acknowledge that upfront, because it is counterintuitive to the work that I think we naturally do as individuals who serve and who work in education,” Cammack said. “So when we look at these budget reductions, I can speak for myself – I said at the last meeting that these are heavy on my heart.”
“I do not take lightly these recommendations, and I do not defend these as ‘these will be good for kids.’ I do not defend these as ‘these will be good for staff,’ or for the district as a whole, or the community,” he continued. “But with $10 million reduced last year, $3.5 million reduced in the current year, and the need to get across the threshold of $24 million, that will be $37.5 million that we have had to cut from San Ramon Valley Unified School District in the past 12 months. We are at a point where we need to make decisions – and I regret ever saying this as an educator – that are not going to be good for kids.”
Following input from community members, students, and staff and teachers when the package was introduced at the board’s Dec. 19 meeting, Cammack presented a revised proposal at the most recent meeting that would seek to soften the blow to some critical services for students, including counseling and social workers.
Under the new plan, the district is set eliminate the 11 counselors funded with one-time pandemic dollars but will retain 35 positions overall — 22 of which are elementary.
However, maintaining these services means “sacrificing something else on the list,” Cammack noted, in this case increased class sizes for fourth and fifth grade students in particular.
Following more than an hour of public comments decrying the cuts from dozens of community members, as well as remarks from presidents of CSEA and SRVEA during their reports to the board, trustees themselves also voiced their trepidation about the budget cuts and the district’s overall financial outlook, voting 5-0 to approve the revised package presented by Cammack that night.
“We understand that you face incredibly challenging decisions as you navigate the superintendent’s budget reduction plan,” SRVEA President Laura Finco said. “We respect the gravity of this process and acknowledge the complex factors that must be weighed. However, we urge you to carefully consider the far-ranging impact and unintended consequences of these proposed reductions.”
The approval of the current package of cuts isn’t the end of the road for the district’s financial struggles, which Cammack said he expected to be ongoing as long as the local funding and control formula continues to place SRVUSD in the bottom 4% of districts in California in terms of state funding.
Cammack pointed to a series of “future focused actions” aimed at reducing costs and increasing revenues, including leveraging the property owned by the district, reviewing program design and offerings to “maximize alignment of resources and goals,” seeking to stabilize and increase enrollment, and garnering funds from additional state and federal sources, as well as a general overhaul of the district’s priorities.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed which positions will be retained as part of the approved budget plan. DanvilleSanRamon regrets the error.
