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The San Ramon Valley Unified School District is gearing up for the next steps in finalizing the move from its current headquarters in Danville to its new location in San Ramon, with the current site poised to hit the market in the near future — pending a decision by the Board of Education on Tuesday.
Moving the offices and selling off the current site is a plan that has been in the works since last year, with Superintendent CJ Cammack bringing the idea forward as part of his administration’s efforts to contend with the district’s ongoing budget deficit and the board subsequently approving the purchase of the new site.
The resolution coming to the board at its upcoming meeting marks a critical point in that process, with the 699 Old Orchard Drive site proposed to be declared surplus property and be put up for sale, initially to nonprofit and public benefit organizations.
“Prior to offering surplus real property for sale or lease to the general public, the District is required by Education Code and Government Code to provide priority notice to specified public entities and eligible nonprofit charitable/public benefit corporations of the property’s availability for sale or lease,” wrote Vincent Morales, assistant superintendent of business operations in a staff report.
The resolution being recommended by staff comes following the board’s vote in April to establish a committee to advise it on how to proceed with disposition of the property amid the district’s planned move to its new office building on Crow Canyon Place, then in June to accept the committee’s report.
The committee recommended declaring the site as surplus property and putting it up for sale, and seeking a waiver of bid procedures in favor of a request for proposals process to solicit buyers.
The district is set to vacate the property this fall, with the new headquarters aimed at placing its operations closer to higher-growth areas in San Ramon and generating additional revenue to its unrestricted funds by leasing portions of the site at 3130 Crow Canyon Place.
The SRVUSD Board of Education is set to meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday (July 28). The agenda is available here.
In other business
* The board is set to hear a presentation on recent polling on public sentiment for a potential new bond measure, and to consider next steps in addressing the funding gap poised to result from the upcoming expiration of previously approved measure.
According to polling conducted last month by EMC research, the outlook for passing a bond measure in this year’s general election is grim.
“In the current environment, voters are particularly sensitive to taxes,” consultants from EMC wrote in a presentation prepared for the upcoming meeting. “Support for a bond measure to fund school facilities updates in San Ramon Valley Unified School District is below the threshold for passage and appears unlikely to succeed on the November 2026 ballot.”
While the polling suggests that district voters view SRVUSD’s quality of education more favorably than any other point in the past 24 years – with 89% expressing a positive sentiment and 10% expressing a negative sentiment – and that 61% see the district as in need of funding, overall support for a bond measure has decreased from 54% in 2024 to 45% in the latest results.
“In past surveys, initial support for the bond measure was notably stronger than it is today, with the greatest level of support seen during the broader 2024 Presidential Election electorate,” consultants from EMC wrote.
Consultants recommend that the district engage in further public outreach over funding needed for facilities in particular before seeking a new bond measure, and advise against doing so in the upcoming general election.
