Last Friday, school employees in the Carpinteria Unified School District protested on the city’s streets for better compensation. But only hours later, the district and the union finally reached an agreement.
The settlement followed two contentious years of labor negotiations. It was all set against the background noise of the district’s legal battles with the union president and the recent resurfacing of decades-old sexual abuse cases stemming from a now-deceased principal.
The tentative agreement includes a 5 percent raise, a $3,000 stipend for special education teachers, and bonuses for current and recently retired employees.
Superintendent Diana Rigby said the district is pleased to have reached an agreement with its teachers and staff.
“Our teachers and staff play a vital role in supporting students and are an essential part of our school community,” she said. “This agreement reflects the District’s deep appreciation for their contributions and provides fair and meaningful compensation for their hard work and commitment.”
The district and the Carpinteria Association of United School Employees (CAUSE) reached a stalemate in negotiations earlier this year that progressed to fact-finding, the last step in the state-mandated impasse process before a strike can be called.
Both sides agreed they had reached a stalemate after struggling to come to an agreement during negotiations. While CAUSE insisted the district had the money to pay for increased salaries that matched rising costs of living, the district maintained that its resources were limited.
An agreement was reached during Friday’s fact-finding hearing, which involved a third-party fact-finder who reviewed each side’s arguments to find a financial compromise.
Union membership must now decide whether to ratify the agreement. If ratified, certificated and classified employees will receive a 5 percent raise effective July 1, as well as get a bonus equivalent to 4 percent of their base salary from the 2024-2025 school year. Employees who retired in the last two school years will also receive the bonus.
Special education teachers will begin receiving an annual $3,000 stipend that will be paid in installments over the course of the school year, according to the agreement.
Employees will also get a one-time bonus contingent on the Santa Barbara County Office of Education property tax allocation from 2024-2025. In October 2026, employees will get a salary increase based on the property tax allocation for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
According to CAUSE president Jay Hotchner, the district and the union are “still working out the remaining details” of the agreement. He said that while it does resolve collective bargaining for the past three years and avoids a strike, it does not resolve “significant labor disputes in CUSD.”
“The agreement should not have taken so long to reach, and it doesn’t come close to bringing District employees the economic stability and salary increase they’ve earned,” Hotchner said in a statement.
“The agreement brings slight relief to employees; whose salaries do little to keep up with regional cost of living increases and still fall far behind the majority of surrounding Districts,” he continued. “There is much more work to do before CUSD can claim it prioritizes employees’ economic stability and well being…But the agreement is a step forward, and again, we encourage employees to support it. It’s the best we could reach with the bargaining partner we have.”
Hotchner claimed the district “squandered” money through legal fees during the two years it took to negotiate the contract.
At the same time as the district and the union were struggling to come to this agreement, the district was attempting to fire Hotchner from his job at Carpinteria Middle School. The district alleged that Hotchner was acting inappropriately and unprofessionally toward students. Hotchner, however, claimed that the district’s allegations were a kind of retaliation against him for his role as union president.
The state’s Commission on Professional Competence ultimately ruled that the district must rehire Hotchner, after he was dismissed in November 2022. The district appealed the decision, but it was recently upheld by a Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge. Hotchner has yet to be reinstated.
