Teacher of the Year honored at School District Board Meeting

The atmosphere was upbeat at Tuesday’s San Ramon Valley Unified School District board meeting, with the highlight of the night spent recognizing the district’s Teacher of the Year, Donna Kenyon.

Kenyon, a fifth-grade teacher from John Baldwin Elementary School, had lots of support as colleagues, students and parents filled the district office to come and honor her.

John Baldwin’s principal Darlene Hale introduced Kenyon as a teacher with magical qualities.

“It’s exciting because we see through Donna what we can all aspire to become,” Hale said. “Other teachers can proudly say that here is one of us.”

Kenyon received a standing ovation when presented with Teacher of the Year honor. “I want to say thank you so much,” she said. “I am unbelievably humbled and overwhelmed by this honor.”

Superintendent Steven Enoch said that Kenyon had the traits of some of the best teachers he has ever known.

Once the celebration ended and each member of the board personally congratulated Kenyon, the board only had a few more items to address.

The public hearing items on the dedication of an easement to Dublin San Ramon Services District for access and maintenance of the water line on Dougherty Valley High School and Live Oak Elementary School were approved uncontested.   

This will allow the city to put water lines across school district property.

The district has also selected an architect company for the new Student Learning Center at Monte Vista High School.

Steinberg Architects from San Jose was selected out of 11 proposals the district received.

“They have extensive experience with K-12 schools and community colleges, and with learning centers as well,” Paul Bardner, board member president, said. “They showed an understanding of the vision of the student learning center.”

The meeting concluded with Enoch briefly mentioning the school’s budget issues.

“I think the decision we made not to do layoffs was the right one,” Enoch said. “We tried to make pretty clear when we pushed that one out that there was kind of a flip side to that one, and that was that we still need to Protect the solvency of the district.”

He said that the district will most likely have at least a quasi hiring freeze and it will become an issue when deciding staffing over the summer.

His main concern is what legislators will do about the budget. He said that he is holding on the hope that voters can make a decision.