by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Claremont Unified School District’s Board of Education unanimously approved a 1% raise for teachers and other personnel on September 18, bringing to an end nearly a year of negotiations with Claremont Faculty Association.

The agreement includes 3-5% raises for the district’s child development program lead teacher and child development program site supervisor, with the amount based on CUSD’s salary schedule. The board also approved 1% raises for teachers at Claremont Adult School.

The board also voted to give retroactive 1% raises to upper management, including Superintendent Jim Elsasser and four assistant superintendents. With the pay increase, Elsasser’s yearly salary jumps to $365,950; Assistant Superintendent, Business Services, Desiree Reyes to $223,593; Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services Julie Olesniewicz to $239,519; Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources Rick Lopez to $256,577; and Assistant Superintendent, Student Services Kevin Ward to $265,557.

The 1% raise for CFA members begins retroactively this year, and continues through 2027-28. It applies to teachers, education specialists, speech-language pathologists, counselors, nurses, psychologists and clinical therapists.

Sycamore Elementary sixth grader Emily Lord helps to deliver the school’s plan for student achievement at the September 18 CUSD Board meeting. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

The total cost of all pay raises for 2025-26 academic year is $592,379. It will be covered by shifting $546,499 from CUSD’s general fund, $40,013 from the child development fund, $3,126 from the adult education fund, $2,216 from the cafeteria fund, and $525 from the recreation assessment district fund.

“If you’re a preschool teacher, you’re woefully underpaid no matter what your education or background or experience level is,” said CFA President Brian D’Ambrosia-Donner. “If you run a daycare it’s very difficult to charge what the services are worth for a wide range of reasons.” He noted that a portion of the district’s child development funding comes from the state.

Other non-salary benefits included in the deal are increased prep time for transitional kindergarten through third grade teachers and for special education classes at elementary schools; overage compensation for teachers whose class sizes are over their contractual limit at elementary and secondary schools; a stipend for secondary teachers teaching combination classes; and additional compensation for teachers who work at multiple sites, among others.

The terms of the agreement include a provision that the district and union will host “one re-opener” and “three automatic re-openers” each subsequent year through 2027-28 year to discuss compensation, benefits and unit members’ work calendar. The district and union members also agreed to revisit negotiations for speech and language pathologists and secondary schools during 2026-27 discussions. It also included various updates to policies, including recognition, organizational security, procedures for suspension, hours, compensation, health and welfare benefits, shared decision making, class size, leave provisions, evaluations, and working conditions. Links to each agreement are at claremont-courier.com and on the September 18 agenda at go.boarddocs.com/ca.

(L-R) San Antonio High senior Andres Zamora Jr., CUSD Board President Kathryn Dunn, and Claremont High senior Samantha Gutierrez, after Dunn administered the oath of office to the students, who will serve as this year’s student board members. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Lopez and Sumner Danbury Elementary teacher Jason Remedios served as the negotiators for the deal. According to D’Ambrosia-Donner, CFA members voted 93.1% in favor of the deal on September 7 to send the package before the board. 

Other business

The board:

• welcomed Claremont High School senior Samantha Gutierrez and San Antonio High School senior Andres Zamora Jr. as student board members for the 2025-26 school year.
• heard from staff, students and parents from Sycamore and Sumner Danbury elementary schools as they delivered their respective annual school plan for student achievement reports.
• approved its unaudited actuals report for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

The next CUSD Board of Education meeting is 6 p.m. Thursday, October 9 at 170 W. San Jose Ave., Claremont.