Teachers and union press Carpinteria board over pay, legal spending and a contingency proposal

Teachers, parents and union leaders used the public-comment period at the Carpinteria Unified School District board meeting on April 22 to press the board and Superintendent Diana Rigby for higher pay, greater transparency about legal spending and an expedited bargaining settlement.

"We will not be able to attract and maintain talented young teachers unless we demonstrate a commitment to value them," said Susan Bacon Frederickson, a teacher at Aliso School, urging the board to negotiate in good faith and resolve the bargaining impasse.

Multiple speakers cited the district's spending on legal services. "Where are the $3.5 million spent on legal fees trying to dismiss President Jay Hoshner?" asked Rogelio Delgado, a Carpinteria resident who said he could not find the charges in financial reports. Union leadership echoed that claim during a later update, saying district legal spending had grown substantially and that those costs have diverted resources from classrooms.

Union representatives told the board the bargaining impasse has lasted 23 months and that California PERB directed the negotiations to fact finding. The union submitted an updated proposal on April 9 that includes a contingency formula, the representative said, to split any additional property-tax revenue above district projections and apply the surplus to employee salaries. "A contingency formula would equitably split any additional property tax revenues that come in higher than the district's current projections," the union representative stated, and urged the board to place the formula on the next agenda.

Several teachers asked that health-care benefits be preserved and proposed a contingency-based approach to future raises tied to incoming revenue. "One is to seriously consider a contingency-based approach to salary increases," said Mary Lewandowski, a kindergarten teacher at Aliso, adding that contingent increases would allow the district to grant raises when revenues materialize without prematurely risking reserves.

Supporters of the Family School and middle-school parents also linked staffing stability and program quality to pay and staffing decisions, while several speakers criticized the district for prioritizing reserve balances and consultant/legal fees over employee compensation.

Board members did not make immediate changes to bargaining strategy at the meeting. Union leadership requested the contingency-formula discussion be placed on a future agenda to allow public examination of how such a formula would operate; the union said it views that step as the most immediate means to avoid disruptions such as strikes or slowdowns.

The meeting record shows robust public comment on these issues and a formal request from union representatives that the board examine the contingency proposal at its next meeting.