Amid its yearlong contract negotiations with labor unions, the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) issued final contract offers to its employees.
In an Oct. 29 YouTube video detailing the status of the negotiations, Superintendent Damon Wright said SCUSD matched its offer to the California School Employees Association (CSEA) —the union representing workers such as bus drivers and custodians— with its offer to United Teachers of Santa Clara (UTSC). Employees will receive 1.5% salary increases and nearly $21,000 in district medical benefit contributions, if the unions agree.
The proposed salary increases are retroactive to July 1, 2025, which is when SCUSD’s contracts with the unions expired. Wright said in the YouTube video UTSC already agreed to the district’s offer on medical premiums, and CSEA is reviewing the district’s newest proposal. These negotiations happen behind closed doors — board policy prohibits trustees from leaking information.
“Every additional, ongoing, financial commitment must be carefully considered,” Wright said. “Not just for today, but for the years ahead.”
Santa Clara’s school district is experiencing a multiyear downsizing that started with the termination of more than 100 employees in the spring. Those layoffs saved SCUSD $22 million, but the district continues to run multimillion-dollar deficits. If UTSC and CSEA accept the district’s offers, and assuming no other spending changes, it faces a $32.6 million deficit at the end of June. This will leave SCUSD’s rainy day fund with $98 million.
“A salary increase,” Wright said, “becomes an ongoing financial commitment that the district must be able to sustain year after year.”
CSEA argues the district has enough in its reserves to meet its proposed 5% salary increase. CSEA President Stephanie Alepin told the school board last month a 1.5% increase is equivalent to a raise of 40 cents an hour. That increase, she argued, isn’t enough for its workers to meet the rising cost of living in Santa Clara.
Gennie Hansen, a paraeducator of three years at SCUSD, told trustees at their Oct. 22 meeting the 1.5% proposal would increase her monthly earnings by about $46.
“After paying my bills this month, I have 28 cents left in my bank account,” Hansen said. “I sometimes go without eating when my son is at his dad’s house. I’ve gone years without dental care … a 1.5% raise against a 3.4% inflation rate isn’t progress — that’s a pay cut.”
Chris Ramirez is a California Local News Fellow.
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