CAN CUSD AFFORD A 3% SALARY INCREASE THIS YEAR?
The state of California has prioritized funding for TK-12 education over the past few years, even during state budget challenges. This year, the state put together a 1.07% increase, while last year the COLA was 8.22% and the year prior to that, it was 6.56%, with an additional adjustment of 6.7%. The COLA, or Cost of Living Adjustment, is like a raise for our district and applied to the formula for funding, not the final dollar amount. Increases to COLA for LCFF are ongoing adjustments intended to provide local flexibility to use these funds to improve student outcomes. Although it is not automatically applied to our salaries, it is an infusion of funding that supports districts in maintaining competitive employee compensation packages among all their other costs. Changes to our salaries are based entirely on local decisions. Last year, the majority of Clovis educators received a 5% increase, and this year, although the district received an approximate 1% COLA, educators will receive 0%.
| YEAR | LCFF STATE FUNDING INCREASE | CUSD ECC INCREASES |
| 2024 – 25 | 1.07% | 0% |
| 2023 – 24 | 8.22% | 5% |
| 2022 – 23 | 6.56 % + 6.7% | 7% + Market Study Salary Schedule Adjustments |
ACE Psychologists and MHSPs are currently in a bargaining reopener to negotiate their salaries and are proposing a 3% increase in order to not fall further behind other districts in salaries. For all other educators, a 0% was recommended by the Employee Compensation Committee.
Cost of 3% raise for Clovis Psychs/MHSPs, based on current placement on salary schedule: $305,741
Cost of 3% raise for all Certificated Employees (w/statutory benefits): $9 million
Cost of 3% raise for ALL CUSD employees & Benefits: $17 million
Last year, the district added $18 million unspent dollars into reserves, which were already double the amount required by the School Board. Since 2019, the district has managed to prioritize its reserves, putting in over $52 million.
AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE (ASL) INTERPRETERS IN CLOVIS UNIFIED JOIN ACE.
Clovis Unified Interpreters have unionized! After the Interpreters submitted their petition to PERB with a majority of signatures of support, our CUSD Admin voluntarily recognized ACE as the union of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters in Clovis Unified. We appreciate the decision by Admin to avoid costly legal disputes and move directly to bargaining the first contract.
Interpreters provide a vital service to our Deaf and hard-of-hearing students and parents so they can access our schools like anyone else. Qualifying for this role takes years of training, education, experience, and testing, and we’re proud that they’re here in Clovis Unified and proud that they’re now part of ACE.
The Interpreters will now move forward with Collective Bargaining.
But why did they unionize? The Interpreters have developed a Bargaining Platform to identify what is important for them, their department, and our students. Some aspects are positive things they want to preserve in a contract, and some are areas where change is needed to allow interpreters to better support our students.
MEET YOUR CUSD ASL INTERPRETERS!
