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Union leader warns of impasse, cites 19‑month negotiations and audit showing salary shortfall
Summary
Employee union president Jay Hochner told the board bargaining is at impasse after a 19‑month process, criticized canceled sessions and what union speakers described as large legal and administrative pay increases; public commenters cited the district audit showing an 8.36% shortfall from the state’s 55% minimum for classroom spending.
Union representatives and several public speakers urged the Carpinteria Unified School District board to address stalled contract negotiations and to explain recent spending patterns and audit findings.
Jay Hochner, who identified himself as the employee union president, told the board the district’s collective bargaining with classified and certificated employees has been at impasse for months and criticized the pace and conduct of talks.
Hochner said the district and union have been negotiating for roughly 19 months and that, after the state certified impasse in June 2024, the district repeatedly failed to meet in mediation. He told the board the district canceled 11 of 14 scheduled bargaining sessions, declined to schedule meetings during routine business hours and declined to update contracts to reflect previous six‑year agreements reached under the prior superintendent’s tenure.
“In the 20-plus years I’ve been involved, there has never been a strike by CUSD employees,” Hochner said. “But we’re now in the 19th month of negotiating … impasse was certified by the state in June of 2024.”
Hochner and other speakers also criticized recent compensation actions, saying district administrators received pay increases “totaling 10 to 12 percent” while the district offered employees a 2% increase. Several public commenters asserted the district’s legal spending and administrative disciplinary costs have been large and cited the district audit and warrants as evidence.
Public commenters and union representatives highlighted an audit item the union said shows Carpinteria Unified spent 46.64% of its budget on classroom teacher salaries in 2023–24, which the speaker said is 8.36 percentage points below the state’s 55% minimum and represents a shortfall of $3,522,648. The union requested that the board place the audit and these calculations on a future agenda for further review.
Board members did not take action on bargaining at the meeting. The board later approved the warrants and other consent items during the meeting (see “Votes at a glance” for action details). Several board members and the superintendent responded in later agenda items that differences between state COLA percentages and local property‑tax (basic aid) revenues complicate year‑to‑year funding comparisons and that the district would discuss budget matters at an upcoming budget study session.
Speakers also raised concerns about the district’s publication of payroll data and whether administrative payroll is included alongside certificated and classified payroll in public reports; district staff said some non‑union administrator salaries are included in the applicable payroll categories and pledged to show where donations and similar receipts appear in the next interim report.
No formal bargaining motion or change in bargaining procedure was adopted at the meeting; multiple speakers asked the board to resume face‑to‑face mediation and to place audit and budget items on a future agenda for further review.
