School staff wages as a trustee
What they say
His campaign says that as a school board trustee he has fought for and raised wages for teachers, custodians, nutrition workers and bus drivers.
“As a school board trustee, I have fought for and successfully raised wages for our teachers, custodians, nutritional workers and bus drivers”
What the record shows ·
The Visalia Unified board raised both units' pay while he sat on it, and he voted for every agreement with them that came to a vote while he was present, all unanimously. In his first year he seconded the classified employees' 2022-23 agreement (June 28, 2022), which adjusted their salary schedule for the state minimum wage, raised it a further 6.4 per cent and paid $3,500 once to staff working six hours a day or more, pro-rated for others. He moved the teachers' 2023-24 agreement, which raised all certificated salary schedules 10 per cent (May 9, 2023), and voted for the classified employees' 2023-24 agreement, which raised their schedule 9.25 per cent (June 13, 2023); the classified unit includes custodians, cafeteria workers and bus drivers. The 2025-26 agreements added 1.25 per cent for teachers (May 23, 2025) and 0.76 per cent for classified staff (June 10, 2025). The 2024-25 agreements, which he also voted for and one of which he seconded, kept both units' 2023-24 salary schedules and gave each one fewer work day at the same pay. He also voted for two smaller classified agreements on consent: more paid hours and days for cafeteria staff (December 12, 2023), and a raise of at least 5 per cent for nutrition-services delivery staff from January 2025 (November 19, 2024). He was absent for three agreement votes: the teachers' 2022-23 agreement on July 19, 2022, a 7.56 per cent increase to all salary schedules with a $2,500 one-time payment for full-time staff, and both 2026-27 agreements, on June 9 and June 11, 2026, each approved 5-0 with two trustees absent: 3.25 per cent for teachers, and 1.85 per cent plus a $1,000 one-time payment for classified staff.
Limit: Wages did rise by board vote while he served, and his votes were for every raise that reached him. But every one of those votes was unanimous, and the minutes summarise motions and roll calls rather than debate, so they cannot show that he fought for the raises any more than his six colleagues did. The raises were negotiated by the district with the unions; a trustee's part is the vote.