School board OKs initial topics for teachers union negotiations

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Salaries, benefits and work hours will be among the items the San Ramon Valley school district and its teachers union will discuss during negotiations this school year after the school board approved a list of initial bargaining topics Tuesday.

The district and the San Ramon Valley Education Association mutually agreed to reopen talks on four topics for the 2014-15 term, the final year of the current three-year collective bargaining agreement between the two sides.

“The best negotiations are those where both sides walk away feeling good about negotiations … I know that’s a goal for both sides,” SRVEA vice president Bob Donovan said to the school board during the meeting Tuesday night in Danville. “I look forward to some good, fruitful negotiations aspiring to do well for both sides.”

The board voted 4-0 to approve the initial bargaining topics, which consist of salaries, health and welfare benefits, class size and hours of employment. Board member Ken Mintz was absent from the meeting.

In other business

* The school board voted to increase certain developer fees to align with new fee levels approved by the State Allocation Board earlier this year.

The new “Level 1” fees, which take effect Jan. 17, are $3.36 per square foot (a 5% increase) for residential construction including additions over 500 square feet, and 54 cents per square foot (up 5.88%) for commercial, industrial and senior housing construction.

The school district is allowed to collect the fees on new development projects to help fund construction or reconstruction of school facilities.

* Board members publicly announced two employee appointments following closed-session deliberations Tuesday.

Melanie Jones was named the district’s new director of certificated personnel, with a start date yet to be determined. She comes to the San Ramon Valley from the Antioch Unified School District, where she served as director of certificated human resources.

Sandy Cattarusa was selected to become coordinator of enrollment. A seven-year district employee, Cattarusa most recently worked as executive assistant to Superintendent Mary Shelton.

* Sue Goldman, principal of San Ramon’s Gale Ranch Middle School, presented an update about programs, school philosophy and recent highlights from the campus, located on Main Branch Road in the Dougherty Valley.

The presentation included an 11-minute video created by two Gale Ranch students that featured student and staff interviews, snippets of classroom activities, and insights into programs such as Common Core implementation, English-learner courses, intervention and inclusion efforts.

More than 40 Gale Ranch teachers, staff, parents and students attended the presentation Tuesday night, with many donning maroon GRMS T-shirts.

* The school board also received an update from district officials about efforts to enhance student engagement district-wide.

The presentation included summaries by instructional coaches at the district’s four main high schools as well as a video on student engagement in the classroom made by two California High students and Scott Corso, a teacher on special assignment at the San Ramon campus.

* Alamo resident Jeff Miller spoke to the board, advocating against the district moving forward with adding a two-story building at Stone Valley Middle School.

“As neighbors, we’ve had real estate appraisers tell us that the approved two-story design will lower our property values by 10% or more,” Miller said during public comment on non-agendized items. “I’m very supportive and excited for the much-needed renovations and improvements at the school … but unfortunately, not at the cost of taking $100,000-$150,000 out of our pockets.”

Board members would not respond to Miller’s comments because the Stone Valley project was not listed on Tuesday’s agenda. In May, the board endorsed a conceptual site layout that called for replacing one-story classrooms at the campus with a modernized two-story facility.

* Tuesday marked the school board’s only scheduled meeting of November. Its next regular meeting is set for Dec. 9.