The Pleasanton Unified School District Board of Trustees will be looking to approve a $2 million insurance settlement and release agreement with Northern California Relief during Thursday’s board meeting, which came as a result of last year’s fire that mysteriously broke out in the small gym at Amador Valley High School.
According to Thursday’s staff report, if the consent calendar item — which are items that are considered routine in nature and are typically approved by a single vote — is approved, a total of just over $2.35 million would be combined with the district’s Measure I funds to help rebuild the gym.
“The insurance carrier funds will be combined with Measure I funds to rebuild and modernize the damaged facilities,” the March 27 staff report states.
On March 17, 2024 the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department responded to a commercial fire alarm at the small gym just before 8 p.m. It was elevated to a second alarm fire before firefighters worked to put it out with the help of the Alameda County Fire Department.
The Pleasanton Police Department and LPFD have ceased investigations on what caused the fire in the small gym since then. One LPFD report concluded the exact cause of the fire was “undetermined after investigation,” even though a custodian who was working that night told investigators that he not only cleaned the garbage bin located in the corner of the gym where the fire started, but he also noticed a door near the bin was slightly open.
Following the fire, the district cleaned up and stabilized the significant fire damages to the small gym and girls’ locker room. That work cost the district about $511,000, which was later recouped from the district’s insurance carrier.
PUSD then hired an engineer and architect to determine the extent of the damage and repairs and after estimating the cost of repairs, the district decided it didn’t make sense to repair the gym when there are already plans to renovate all of the athletic facilities at the high school as part of the $395 million Measure I bond project list.
“As part of the Measure I Bond program, the district plans to demolish the theater and small gym in a few years and replace them with new and modernized facilities; it did not make sense to make the repairs, which would take 12 to 18 months to complete,” the staff report states. “The district requested the insurance carrier Northern California Relief (NCR) for a buyout.”
The board’s open-session meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday (March 27). Read the full agenda here.
In other business:
* District staff will be recommending that the board approve a resolution to reduce the work year calendar for certificated management, classified management and confidential employees as a cost-saving measure to address the district’s recent budget challenges.
According to the staff report, the resolution includes associated revisions to the salary schedules for those employees for the 2025-26 school year.
PUSD is currently facing a “significant budget shortfall for the 2025-2026 school year,” which is why staff have been looking for ways to immediately reduce its expenditures in order to maintain fiscal solvency.
The board determined that a one-time reduction in the work year and corresponding salaries for those management and confidential employees for the next school year is a “necessary and equitable cost-saving measure.”
“This decision ensures that fiscal adjustments are distributed across all employee groups while prioritizing the preservation of student programs and essential services,” the staff report states.
In order to implement this temporary change, the board must approve the revised salary schedules to reflect the reduced work year and compensation for those employees.
* The board will be receiving a project report on the Early Childhood Education Center at Harvest Park Middle School and afterwards, the trustees will vote on approving the project.
The scope of work for the Measure I project includes centralizing the STEAM and iPals preschool programs on a single campus — Harvest Park — by constructing an additional building at the school, remodeling existing iPals classrooms, relocating two portables to the new education center, and constructing new parking spaces and a greenbelt that will include a walking path for the site and the neighborhood.
“This important project addresses systemic barriers to an inclusive learning environment, improves aging and inadequate facilities at the existing iPals campus and helps to address compliance issues with federal and state standards,” according to the staff report.
According to the staff report, the board will receive an update on the project’s budget — it is currently estimated to cost $10.8 million but staff say that number could go up due to “escalation, with the additional portable classroom scope and the added greenbelt.”
Staff state that they will bring an architectural agreement for the project to the board at a future meeting.
In a separate agenda item, the board will be voting on a resolution that would exempt the Early Childhood Education Center from California Environmental Quality Act review.
* Rising sixth graders could start their middle school journey next year with their very own laptops if the board approves the purchase of 1,300 Chromebooks for take-home use during Thursday’s board meeting.
According to the district, the new laptops — which would be bought using Measure I1 funds — would be issued to incoming sixth graders until they graduate from high school. Once the students return the laptops seven years later, the district will evaluate their usability and they would then be used as spare devices in the district’s “secondary and elementary schools until they are no longer useful.”
* District staff will be presenting the board with an update on elementary literacy and will seek approval of a reading screening instrument for the 2025-26 school year.
* As part of its consent calendar, the board will be looking to approve a personnel document which shows five elementary and middle school vice principals who will have their roles split across multiple school sites.
