Santa Maria Bonita School Employees Voice Concerns Over Budget Decisions
Jarrod Zinn
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – A slew of employees in the Santa Maria Bonita School District are questioning last night’s passage of the new budget.
Voices from employees that help keep local schools running are being raised.
Health and teaching aides, custodians, and food service workers in the Santa Maria Bonita district say they don’t feel the board’s latest budget decisions are equitable, with some positions getting higher raises than what they were offered.
“We’ve had members that have expressed that they’re now having to make decisions of, ‘do I buy groceries or do I buy gas so I can go to work,’” says Melissa Gutierrez, California School Employees Association (CSEA) Chapter 129 president.
The budget for the 2025-2026 school year included raises of 2% to superintendents’ and human resource managers’ salaries—mere months after a 1% raise—as well as the creation of four entirely new higher salaried positions.
“I received text messages from a lot of people, emails from a lot of people just really upset at these positions equaling three $400,000,” says Gutierrez. “Just those by themselves is almost what it costs for 1% for 1100 of our members.”
Recently, CSEA members voted “no” to a 1% pay raise, returning to the negotiation table for something higher, and those negotiations have been denied for now.
“They didn’t feel valued,” says Gutierrez. “And so at 1%, when they see constant management positions being created, they felt it was unacceptable.”
The board said the funding isn’t available, so the classified employees are expressing disappointment that leadership positions will be receiving raises for their six figure salaries. While the ground staff were offered lower raises and for now remain at a wage of $22 an hour.
“We are putting out to our membership where you can go to food banks, which we didn’t have to before,” says Gutierrez. “Not to say it didn’t happen, but now we’re really having to push that there is help out there.”
We reached out to the Santa Maria Bonita School District board, and they have provided the following statement.
“Negotiations are ongoing between the Santa Maria-Bonita School District (SMBSD) and California School Employees Association (CSEA) and their local Chapter 129. At the Wednesday, June 25 SMBSD school board meeting, all management and confidential employees received a 2% increase to their respective salary schedules. The interest-based bargaining team including management and classified staff continues to discuss compensation for classified employees and are working on reaching an agreement. The most recent meeting was on June 18, and additional dates will be scheduled. SMBSD values all our employees and their contributions, and is committed to reaching a compensation agreement that highlights that appreciation.”
The Latest Breaking News, Weather Alerts, Sports and More Anytime On Our Mobile Apps. Keep Up With the Latest Articles by Signing Up for the News Channel 3-12 Newsletter.