School Board Approves 3 Percent Pay Package for Classified Staff
The 5-0 vote on the CSEA deal ties part of the raise to property-tax receipts and extends the same terms to unrepresented employees.
The Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education voted 5-0 on Sept. 11 to ratify a tentative agreement with the California School Employees Association, setting compensation for the district's classified workforce for the 2026-27 school year.
The agreement, reached between the district and CSEA Chapter 131 and signed in mid-July, provides a 3 percent total compensation package. It combines a baseline salary increase effective July 1, 2026, with a 2 percent increase in the district's contribution to health and welfare caps, aimed at easing premium costs for workers.
The deal also contains trigger language tied to local property-tax performance. An additional 1 percent salary adjustment would be added to the 2026-27 salary schedule if property-tax receipts exceed specified thresholds in the 6 to 7 percent range, with retroactivity provisions spelled out in the agreement.
Trustees and student representatives thanked negotiators for reaching the agreement and underscored the need to follow legal and procedural steps in bargaining and ratification. Board members asked technical questions about how the health and welfare contribution will be audited after open enrollment, and staff said those costs can be adjusted if actual post-October enrollment figures differ from estimates.
Following the CSEA ratification, the board unanimously approved extending the same 3 percent compensation package to unrepresented certificated and classified employees, consistent with past practice.
The same meeting included the district's unaudited 2025-26 actuals, which showed a $125,000 positive variance and average per-pupil spending of about $40,085. Board members pressed staff on spikes in legal costs, a $4.5 million AB 218 settlement charged from Fund 17, and how deficits in pool funding will be addressed.
Public commenters at the Sept. 10 meeting called for the release of records related to Ashley Consulting's investigation of a May demonstration, criticized the use of closed sessions, and demanded clearer accounting of legal costs and settlements. The board took no action on those requests during the meeting.
The transparency complaints cut across several fronts. Speakers criticized a board president social-media post, questioned how legal bills are reported to the public, and pressed trustees on why investigative records from the spring had not been released. Board members did not directly answer the records requests from the dais, and the items were not on the evening's action calendar.
On the compensation item itself, staff walked the board through the mechanics of the health and welfare piece. The 2 percent increase goes to the district's contribution toward premium caps rather than directly into paychecks, and staff said the final cost will be audited after open enrollment closes in October, with adjustments possible if actual enrollment costs differ from the estimates used at the bargaining table.
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