Union Formally Agrees To SRVUSD Agreement

SAN RAMON VALLEY, CA — The votes are in: 99 percent of San Ramon Valley Education Association members voted to ratify a three-year contract with the San Ramon Valley Unified School District.

SRVEA members had been working under an expired contract, so the contract will cover July 2019 to June 2022, the union said in a statement.

The agreement followed a contentious, months-long bargaining process. Teachers wanted class size caps and more specialists, but the district said those demands were too pricey.

Ninety-eight percent of SRVEA members voted to authorize a strike, should they reject the district's final offer.

They came to the agreement after a 21-hour, nonstop bargaining session, union president Ann Katzburg previously said.

The agreement includes:

• A 2.5 percent ongoing base salary increase, retroactive to July 19, 2019, and an additional .5 percent increase as of Jan. 1, 2010;
• Lower caps on class sizes in elementary grades TK-5 classes and in certain special day classes;
• Lower staffing ratios for middle school counselors;
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the use of increased revenues contingent on the passage of the California Tax on Commercial and Industrial Properties for Education and Local Government Funding Initiative — also known as the Schools and Communities First Initiative. This initiative would require commercial and industrial properties, except those zoned as commercial agriculture, to be taxed based on their market value, rather than their purchase price. It has qualified for the November general election ballot.

SRVEA members were advised to keep an eye out for more information from the district, including details on retroactive checks.

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report

Read more:

• SRVUSD Teachers Get Class Size Caps, Lower Nurse Ratio
• Strike Averted: Union, SRVUSD Reach Tentative Agreement