FUHS employees to get 3.5% pay increase

Rick Monroe

Special to the Village News

The board of the Fallbrook Union High School District will vote on the collective bargaining agreements at one of the January board meetings, Jan. 10 or 24. Salary and benefits have previously been approved by trustees.

Superintendent Ilsa Garza-Gonzalez negotiated with the three groups of employees and each agreed to a 3.5% pay increase based on the cost of living adjustment.

The three employee groups are the Service Employee International Union, Fallbrook High School Teachers Association, and Unrepresented Employees, which includes classified management, certificated management, and confidential employees.

The district has additional state and federal funds this year because of COVID-19 relief, but that money is restricted from being used for pay increases, Garza-Gonzalez explained. Instead, the new money is used to help with pandemic relief in items like personal protective equipment, a licensed practical nurse, and COVID-19 contact tracing.

The superintendent said negotiations went smoothly and that union representatives said the process was completed earlier than in many years.

After the board gives final approval at one of the next board meetings, employees will receive a lump pay increase retroactive to July 1 when the current contract expired. Though the contracts expired, employees continued to work under a memorandum of understanding, which Garza-Gonzalez said was a standard procedure.