April 2, 2025
Hello, SRVUSD Staff and Community,
Despite the recent rain, I love this time of year as spring has officially arrived. As a huge baseball fan, my official mark of spring comes with the first pitch of a new season. Whether it’s the little league fields or the big league fields, softball to baseball, it’s always my favorite season. This also marks a time when the end of the school year starts to come into focus. With spring break on the horizon, we’ll return to school on April 14th, with just over 30 school days left in the 2024-2025 school year.
As the parent of a senior, the close of this school year has me reflecting on my son’s journey from Kindergarten through high school, all while considering how life will look and feel different as he heads off to college in August. I can’t shake the memory of walking him into school on his first day of Kindergarten. Whether a child is headed to college or towards a career path after graduation, it is exciting to see their growth, development, and accomplishments. I look forward to seeing our students over the coming months as they work hard to achieve their goals and finish out the school year strong.
Looming over this wonderful season of spring is our current fiscal condition. Understandably, emotions and stress are high for our staff, students, and the community. I am grateful for the perspectives shared with me in recent weeks regarding the budget reductions and advocacy for the various outcomes people are seeking.
On March 11th, I shared with our community that the District team had filed for impasse due to a lack of substantive progress in negotiations with our teachers' union (SRVEA) and that SRVEA opposed the impasse filing. Both parties were recently informed that the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), a third-party agency, determined that we are indeed at an impasse, and PERB certified the filing. A mediator has been appointed to meet with both parties, and the process of scheduling these sessions is underway.
Many people have shared their appreciation of the increased transparency in posting a summary of each negotiation session on our website, along with all the proposals exchanged between both parties. During the mediation process, all proposals are required to remain confidential. Although the District will continue to update the website when the parties have met for mediation, we will not be able to post the proposals.
I am often asked what things may look like for students next year if the budget reduction plan is implemented, pending negotiated agreements, with particular interest shared around class sizes and counseling/mental health services for students. To help our staff and community visualize the possible tangible changes for next school year, I’ve created a graphic/resource that illustrates what will look different at school sites in the 2025-2026 school year. You may review that information here. Should you have specific questions, please feel free to contact me.
As someone who has dedicated my entire adult life to serving students in public education, the scope of these potential reductions is difficult to propose. I began my career as an elementary school teacher, moving through many administrative positions before serving as a Superintendent for almost a decade, yet during this tenure, I never envisioned the need to make such significant reductions to expenditures. I have no motive to cause this level of stress for adults, no motive to remove important services for students, and no tangible benefit as the new Superintendent of SRVUSD to make such drastic reductions, unless it was an absolute fiscal necessity.
We have many intense challenges ahead, and I don’t take lightly the significance or the scope of the reductions we must accomplish, nor does our Board of Education. While some voices work to garner support for their desired outcomes, I am hopeful that we all can remember that we are in this together, we will emerge from this together, and it is only through working together that we can find a new path forward focused on how to best serve our students with fewer fiscal and human resources. What unites us is much more important than what divides us.
CJ Cammack
Superintendent
San Ramon Valley Unified
