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Carpinteria USD board approves nonreelection of four probationary teachers amid union protests
Summary
The Carpinteria Unified School District board voted 5-0 on Feb. 25 to approve a resolution nonreelecting four certificated probationary employees. The decision drew extended public comment from the district employee union accusing the district of fiscal mismanagement and the replacement of program funding with legal and administrative spending.
The Carpinteria Unified School District Board of Trustees on Feb. 25 approved Resolution 25-935 to not reelect four certificated probationary employees for the 2025–26 school year.
The vote was taken by roll call and passed 5-0. Board members recorded as voting “aye” were Eric, Aaron, Sally, Jamie and the fifth board member present (roll call recorded five ayes; no abstentions or no votes were recorded). The board directed the superintendent or designee to deliver notices of nonreelection to the employees identified in the resolution.
The decision came after more than an hour of public comment focused on personnel, compensation and district finances. Jay Hotchner, who identified himself as the district employee union president, addressed the board at length, saying the releases were avoidable and tied them to what he described as “reckless spending priorities” by district leadership. Hotchner cited the district’s annual audit and said the audit showed the district had failed to invest roughly $3.5 million the union contends should have supported staff compensation and programs. “Had the district officials invested these funds legally and without malice, CUSD would have more than enough revenues to make appropriate investments in essential employee positions and the programs they're now cutting,” Hotchner said.
Hotchner also criticized the pace and outcome of contract negotiations, saying the district’s “last best offer” amounted to a 2 percent increase for teachers and 2.5 percent for support staff and that employees have gone 21 months without cost-of-living increases. He warned of escalating labor actions if the impasse continued.
Board discussion on the resolution was procedural; the resolution cites the statutory requirement for notice to probationary employees and invokes the district’s authority under applicable state code. The board did not provide additional detail in its public remarks about the individual personnel decisions. The resolution language presented at the meeting referenced California Education Code requirements for notifying probationary certificated employees and a Government Code section listed on the agenda for the process used.
The board’s vote to nonreelect probationary teachers is a formal personnel action under state law and does not itself publicly disclose the employees’ identities beyond the exhibit referenced in the resolution. Members of the public who spoke said those teachers had received positive evaluations and that the releases would harm program continuity and students.
The board also approved a separate personnel summary motion covering leaves of absence, coaching assignments and spring coaching appointments during the same meeting.
The board clerk will issue formal notices required by law to the employees named in the resolution; the board did not announce further personnel actions at the meeting.
