On Jan. 14, 2025, the SRVUSD Board of Education approved a budget plan to address the massive financial deficit that has built up over the last few years, hoping to cut around $24 million. These reductions follow multiple prior cuts and will impact or eliminate numerous staff positions and student programs throughout the district.

The recently adopted budget reduction plan for SRVUSD is the result of a carefully considered balance between fiscal requirements and student and staff needs. It’s broken down into five main sections: Program and Budget Adjustments, SRVEA, CSEA, SEIU and Management.

Superintendent CJ Cammack explained that the district is aiming to cut $24 million instead of the originally intended $37 million. The passage of the Measure Q parcel tax reduced the need for cuts by $6.8 million; additionally, Cammack explained, “We have tried to limit the impact on the youngest students since they require the most care and attention from teachers.”

A major point of contention was to maintain minimal class sizes for students in Transitional Kindergarten (TK) through 3rd grade. Initially, there were to be reductions in 22 teaching posts, but the Board maintained the vacant positions to guarantee a high enough number of educators in the early years. Nonetheless, in order to counteract costs, 4th and 5th grade class sizes will rise by two extra students per class.

Middle schoolers will see an even smaller change, in that class sizes will only rise by one student total per teacher—down from the two students originally called for. Moreover, the plan has completely avoided the loss of more than five teaching positions that would otherwise have been cut. At the high school level, however, the original proposal to expand the number of students per class by two remains in place.

Teachers manage, that’s what we do. Is it desirable for the students, no, but students manage too,”  DV chemistry teacher Karen Dennis said. “We seem to all be able to adapt, we’ll do what we have to do.”

She believes students will adjust to increasing class sizes, even though in the case of laboratory courses, this will mean overfilling lab tables. “They won’t have anything to reflect it back on, so if you’ve always been in a class of 34 kids in a science class, how do you know what it’s like with 28?”

Mental health services were another critical area of discussion.

Cammack highlighted the district’s commitment to safeguarding these positions, indicating, “We further made the decision to protect our mental health professionals because they are central to the healthy functioning of the school–especially in response to a tough recent couple of years.”

The original proposal intended to reduce the size of social worker staff by five positions but the adopted plan reduced that by one, preserving one staff member. Similarly, student support counseling services will see some adjustments. High schools that could have eliminated a combined 4.2 full-time positions will instead retain all of those positions. At middle schools, however, the initial decrease of 4.0 positions will be carried out as scheduled. Counselor roles at middle and high schools also saw revisions, with 3.2 combined full-time positions spared from the initially proposed cuts of 7.2 positions.

Student Support Counselor Tatum Villa also questioned how these cuts could affect students in the district: “If they take away the social workers, then most of that caseload in terms of social-emotional counseling will fall back on school counselors, which they already do not have enough time to do as well as handling academic guidance.”

Villa also emphasized the importance of mental health services, particularly for vulnerable populations. “The Center for Disease Control states that LGBTQ+ minors are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. I’m worried about how these students will cope without adequate support,” she said. “The same goes for students dealing with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, or controlling home environments. Without someone to talk to, these issues can escalate.”

Elementary schools, which have had counselors for only three years, will lose all 11 of their counselors under the new plan. Villa said this could mean increased truancy, interpersonal conflicts and declining academic performance. “These issues could follow students into middle and high school, creating a ripple effect,” she warned.

In other areas of the educational environment, the new proposal cuts every district site down to a single teacher librarian. DVHS has a library media coordinator (LMC), Annalisa Raphael, and due to previous contract stipulations, both DVHS and Cal High have two teacher librarians because of their large student bodies.

“As things stand, those positions are right now being eliminated,” DVHS teacher librarian Allison Hussenet said. “Worst case scenario, if both positions are truly cut, then that could be either me and the other librarian bumping a librarian who has less experience in the district, or that could be us going back to the classroom at a site. That would be Mrs. Knapp by herself and then other sites have been told that they’re cutting LMC hours or losing an LMC.”

Removal of full-time employees, according to Hussenet, will impact the library’s ability to serve the student population. She described their in-classroom programming, of which they often run multiple sessions at once, and their desire to serve as a safe space for students.

“Just in terms of the number of hours, I come in a bit later in the morning and stay later in the afternoon, and Mrs. Knapp comes in earlier,” Hussenet said. “So I think in terms of library hours and programming, services we’re able to provide, we’d be a lot more limited with just one teacher librarian.”

Various programs as well as staff positions are also under consideration for termination. Summer school intervention for students below 9th grade will be cut, along with the SAT, ACT and PSAT’s availability in-school for high schoolers. For Dougherty students, this will mean taking standardized testing on weekends, often traveling longer distances in order to sit the exams.

Junior Marlon Cheng described his experience with the school SAT. “They sent out an email with the info, so I signed up. They’d already chosen a date, and so all you had to do was just go to the gym and take it,” he said.

His other option this spring is to take the test in San Francisco, a 40 minute drive from San Ramon, and he’s concerned that cutting the school test “will definitely affect future students in a negative way.”

Just like any major policy change, these proposals will necessitate talks with labor unions. District leaders are now open for conversation with unions to ensure a proper balance between financial sustainability and the welfare of students and staff. Along with SRVEA, the teachers’ union, the classified employees (CSEA) and custodial services (SEIU) are also negotiating. Wilson Yoshida-Ng, a DV custodian who lost his job in the SRVUSD Warehouse Department during previous budget cuts in 2019, described the custodian union’s strategy.

“In my belief, because I was laid off before, I know how impactive that is on the person that’s going to be laid off,” Yoshida-Ng said. “One of the suggestions for the union is to take on furlough days, have days per the month or throughout the year that we do not work and we do not get paid. The union has figured out a number talking with the administration that allocates to maybe 19 furlough days.”

The administration has not yet approved the proposal, and the number of furlough days may change, but Ng emphasized his support for the furlough strategy. Despite their prospective loss in work hours, the custodians could recoup that pay through overtime work. However, whether custodial employees (10 under the current plan) are laid off or receive furlough days instead, it will increase the workload for their peers.

“We’ll be asked to do more,” Yoshida-Ng said. “One of the things which is already implemented now is that whenever any of us is sick, or not coming in for that day, they are not sending out a substitute for us. So the rest of the work crew has to make up the work.  It’s gonna increase the stress. It’s more work for the given amount of time.”

The cuts, to be implemented during the 2025-2026 school year, are a difficult but unavoidable measure for SRVUSD. The Board of Education will continue to keep in mind the reduction they can place on students, while addressing the restriction of finances, and will present data on implementation and effect within the coming months.

As the community navigates these changes, Villa remains optimistic that the district will do right by its students. “The Wellness Center and counseling services are important resources for our students to decompress and seek help,” she said. “I hope the community rallies to advocate for preserving these critical resources.”

This story was originally published on Wildcat Tribune on February 25, 2025.