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Torrance Unified board approves salary increases and 'me-too' amendments to executive contracts amid union objections
Summary
The board approved negotiated salary increases for bargaining units and applied a 'me-too' adjustment to executive contracts retroactive to July 1, 2025. The Torrance Teachers Association public comment criticized the scale of executive raises; the board said the amendments correct a prior omission and reflect longstanding practice. Several votes passed with one abstention.
The Torrance Unified School District board voted Jan. 20 to approve negotiated salary increases for multiple employee groups and to adopt first amendments to executive employment agreements to reflect the same increases.
Assistant Superintendent Hernandez summarized agreement terms the board adopted for classified employee groups: a 2.23% salary increase across schedules, a $1,500 one-time payment to make up prior health-care contributions, and a $2,000-per-employee ongoing contribution toward health care effective July 1, 2026 (a total-compensation impact the district cited as roughly 3.89%). The board approved the agreements for California School Employees Association chapters (motions passed by voice vote).
The board then extended the same increases to management and confidential schedules and moved to amend executive-cabinet contracts (superintendent, deputy superintendent and assistant superintendents) to apply the increases retroactively to July 1, 2025. The superintendent's amended base salary was summarized in the staff report as $363,868; assistant and deputy superintendent figures were read into the record during the item.
Torrance Teachers Association president Carlos Sanwander addressed the board before the vote. "Since 2020, Dr. Stowe has received 42.5% in total increases to his salary. In the same time period, teachers have received 23.73%." He urged the board to reconsider the executive raises, saying they compound ongoing budget pressures and send a message about district priorities.
Board members responded that a contractual "me-too" provision had been negotiated and intended to be applied when classroom-unit increases occurred and that the amendments correct an inadvertent omission. Trustee Muhammad described the change as honoring a previously agreed term and a long-standing district practice; Trustee Zygabom and others framed it as an effort to treat employee groups consistently.
Voting outcomes reported in the meeting record: the motions to adopt salary increases for the CSEA units passed unanimously; the salary action for management and confidential employees passed with Trustee Hahn abstaining due to a conflict of interest; and the first amendments to executive employment agreements passed with 4 ayes and 1 abstention (Trustee Hahn). The meeting record shows the board carried the measures and will make the full amended agreements available from the District Business Office on request.
The board also noted the bargaining process continues: the Torrance Teachers Association presented its initial proposal for 2026–2029 during the meeting, and the district's initial bargaining proposal will be presented at a future session.
