‘Huge slap in the face.’ Drivers, custodians call out Fresno Unified board pay raise
A union representing Fresno Unified employees criticized the school board for increasing their own stipends amid a budget deficit and stalled contract negotiations.
About two dozen union members from SEIU Local 521, which represents thousands of Fresno Unified classified employees, , gathered outside the district’s nutrition and transportation buildings on North Brawley Avenue on Wednesday and called on Fresno Unified to invest in students and frontline workers.
SEIU is currently negotiating its next three-year contract with Fresno Unified. The previous contract expired on June 30, 2025.
Corina Lozoya, a bus driver for Fresno Unified, said it was a “huge slap in the face” that the board gave themselves a raise while the district has not yet agreed to a contract with employees who keep schools running.
“My own child has seen less of me because I have to work between 12 and 16 hours just to keep a roof over our heads and put food on the table. Unfortunately, that’s just the life of a classified worker right now,” Lozoya said.
Earlier this month, the governing board adopted a resolution to increase trustees’ monthly stipend from $2,111 to $4,500, or $54,000 annually, starting Feb. 1.
The raises were made possible because of a newly passed Assembly Bill 1390, which raised the state limits on compensation for school board members for the first time in more than 40 years. With an average daily attendance above the threshold of 60,000, Fresno Unified is categorized as a large school district, which means it is allowed to pay its trustees a maximum stipend of $4,500 monthly with an annual raise of 5%.
Last month, the board approved early retirement for 573 employees, aiming to save the district over $56 million over the next five years. A budget presentation in May 2025 showed that the district will need to make cuts of $48.9 million, $22.4 million and $23.5 million over the next three school years.
As of Tuesday, two out of the seven board trustees — Andy Levine and Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas — have declined the pay raise. Their stipends will remain the current amount of $2,111 per month, according to district officials.
“I think I shared my thinking on it during the (Jan. 14) meeting. But I fully respect and appreciate each of my colleagues’ decisions and thought processes on it,” said Levine, the sole trustee who voted against the raise.
Classified workers said there’s a lack of transparency in the district’s decision-making, and it doesn’t consider the impact on students.
“As long-time dedicated employees, classified workers deserve stability,” said Luis Munoz, a custodian. “And to our students, access to schools depends on stable operation staffing, and the lack of those services that create inequity and vary for their attendance, safety, and participation.”
Andrew Martinez, a ground worker who supports multiple campuses’ operations, told The Bee that the district laid out a lot of demands at the bargaining table, leaving union representatives feeling this is not a genuine negotiating process.
“They’re cold, cut, and dry, very, very calculated, a lot of ‘No, no, no.’ To me, it’s a little disheartening because their salaries are six figures a year, ours are not even close to that,” Martinez said. “We haven’t even entered the 2026-27 budget yet, and they’re already starting to float ideas and thoughts about what they want to do, and they haven’t been really concrete. It’s more like a specter or shadow looming over. That sort of thing is not exactly reassuring.”
