Rialto educators press board for 5% raise as unions cite growing district reserves

At a Feb. 11 meeting, dozens of teachers, classified staff and union leaders urged the Rialto Unified School District board to approve a 5% pay increase for district employees, citing rising living costs and district finances.

"If revenues doubled, did educator salaries double? They did not," Tobin Brinker, president of the Rialto Education Association, told the board, citing district revenue growth from roughly $250 million to more than $500 million and reserves he said exceed $200 million over the last 11 years. "That's the distance between institutional growth and the people who make that growth possible."

Teachers and classified staff described large class sizes, persistent vacancies and expanding duties outside instruction. Melissa Paquette, vice president of the Rialto Education Association and a 30-year teacher, said staffing pressures and class-size increases are harming instruction and argued the district’s test-score improvements support a raise. "We are asking for a 5% raise," she said.

Classified staff made narrower requests tied to job demands: Manuel Fabella, a nutrition-services delivery driver, asked for a 3.75% increase to reflect heavy daily lifting and safety concerns.

The district’s California School Employees Association and union leaders pressed the board to avoid tying compensation decisions to a single test metric. Christina Costa, president of CSEA local 33, said linking pay to CAASPP/CAST scores would oversimplify decisions about recruitment and retention and harm morale.

Board members acknowledged public testimony and described competing fiscal constraints. Several members said they support staff and want a fair outcome but noted state budget uncertainty and legal requirements for multi-year budgeting. The board did not adopt a salary increase at the meeting; negotiations remain active and will proceed through the district’s reopener and bargaining process.

What happens next: unions and staff leaders said they expect continued bargaining and public advocacy; the board indicated negotiations and staff reports will continue, and a reopener bargaining session was scheduled for future board meetings.

Sources: Public comment and union presentations at the Feb. 11 Rialto Unified School District Board of Education meeting; union leaders cited internal budget figures and multi-year reserve totals presented during testimony.