Teachers and aides press Carpinteria Unified board to resolve stalled negotiations, cite staffing and safety shortfalls

Dozens of teachers, instructional aides and union representatives used the public-comment period at the Carpinteria Unified School District’s Dec. 17 organizational meeting to press trustees for faster progress in stalled contract talks and for changes they said are necessary to retain staff and protect students. The speakers described long staffing vacancies in special education, repeated classroom disruptions and what several called a decline in workplace culture.

“We started the school year without a teacher and had to go beyond our job description in our attempts to keep our students safe,” said Ruby Avila, a special-education aide, describing repeated incidents at one classroom and urging the board to support bargaining that would restore staffing and training. Another long-serving teacher, Angela…