The Abridged version:
- Hundreds of Twin Rivers Unified teachers showed up to protest at Tuesday’s school board meeting, saying they are prepared to strike if the district does not offer higher compensation.
- Twin Rivers Unified has fallen below the state required minimum for teacher compensation in each of the past six years. The district anticipates the trend will continue.
- Teachers say the lower pay and benefits have led to districtwide vacancies and crowded classrooms.
Hundreds of teachers at Twin Rivers Unified School District poured into Tuesday’s school board meeting to demand higher compensation.
“We can’t wait,” the crowd of parents, teachers and community members chanted.
And if the district does not meet their demands, teachers say they are prepared to strike.
Contract negotiations are ongoing between the district and the teachers’ union, Twin Rivers United Educators.
“Twin Rivers Unified is bargaining in good faith and remains focused on reaching an agreement that is fair, fiscally responsible, and sustainable for the long term to provide valuable services to students,” Zenobia Gerald, director of communications for the district, said in a statement.
Brittoni Ward, union president, said teachers are organizing now to put pressure on the district months before a strike would potentially occur in the spring.
“We are preparing to be strike-ready,” Ward told Abridged, adding that the teachers’ message to administrators has been: “‘We are prepared. But don’t make us go there.'”
Low compensation hits teacher retention
Ward said teachers at Twin Rivers Unified are working for lower pay compared to most other local districts. But on top of that, she said, they face high benefits costs, including as much as $1,500 a month for health insurance for some families.
She blamed the low compensation for vacancies across school sites.
“Our district is not doing enough to recruit and retain,” Ward said.
Clark Knudtson has been a speech language pathologist with Twin Rivers Unified for nine years. When he started, he said, 50 speech pathologists were almost all district employees. Now, about half of those positions are filled by outside contractors.
Knudtson was one of about 800 people, according to organizers’ estimates, standing outside the district offices ahead of the evening board meeting. Also among the sea of those in red and black T-shirts were members of fellow unions, including Sacramento City Teachers Association and West Sacramento Teachers Association.
Hard to compete
Vacancies have contributed to swelling class sizes, another complaint that protesting teachers say they want to see addressed.
Autumn Black, a science teacher at Foothill Ranch Middle School, said last year she had 35 students in her fifth period class and 37 in the next period.
“We’re tired of our classrooms just being treated like a clown car and just shoved with kids,” said Black, a graduate of the Twin Rivers district and employee for 19 years.
Black said she previously lived in Roseville, where her daughter attended school, and witnessed a teacher leave Twin Rivers Unified for a job with the higher-paying northern neighboring district.
“She was a fabulous teacher for my daughter,” Black said. “But I feel bad for the students in our district that are missing out.”
Below state requirements for years
Since the 2019-2020 school year, Twin Rivers Unified has consistently fallen below the state required minimum for teacher compensation. Each year, the district files and is granted an exemption by the Sacramento County Board of Education.
District officials anticipate the trend will continue, according to documents from a September board meeting.
Twin Rivers Unified was $12,822,998 below pay and benefit requirements during the 2024-25 school year.
‘Prioritization problem’
In an effort to retain staff, the district has proposed a workforce housing project.
But teachers on Tuesday said they are not excited about the proposal of a district landlord.
“Instead of spending millions of dollars to build housing, how about you take that money and actually pay people a living wage so they don’t need housing subsidized by the district,” Black said.
Ward, the union president, called the district’s spending choices a “prioritization problem.”
Gerald, the spokesperson for Twin Rivers Unified, addressed the spending concerns in a statement.
“The District has fully complied with all legal and contractual requirements, ensuring that resources — including COVID-19 relief dollars and other one-time funding sources — were maximized and invested in ways that directly benefit students, such as providing additional student supports and resources, improving staffing, and upgrading school facilities,” she said. “Every decision has been guided by what best supports students.”
Savannah Kuchar is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source.