The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District has finalized new agreements with its teacher and classified employee unions, securing a 5% pay increase for all staff members and introducing enhanced benefits for leaves of absence. The contracts were approved during the spring season for the upcoming academic year.
Tanya De La Cruz, a district spokeswoman, confirmed that a tentative agreement was reached in May with Chapter No. 875 of the California School Employees Association. This union represents more than 250,000 classified public school workers, including bus drivers, custodians, food service personnel, para-educators, clerical staff, and campus security guards. The agreement remains valid through June 30, 2028.
Under the new terms, school employees will receive a 5% raise effective July 1. An additional 0.8% is allocated for non-uniform enhancements, which may be used to create new salary ranges or reclassify jobs to higher pay grades during the school year.
The district also agreed to establish a clear process for assigning overtime to classified staff, including physical or digital rotation lists based on seniority.
The contract shifts the overtime threshold to a weekly basis. Full-time employees will earn time-and-a-half pay for their sixth consecutive workday and double time for their seventh. Part-time employees will receive overtime rates on their seventh day for up to eight hours, with double time thereafter.
Language was also added to cap part-time employees' lunch breaks at 30 minutes and allow the use of rest periods to make up for lost time with supervisory approval.
Regarding sick leave, the new contract provides employees who exhaust their regular sick leave with up to 100 workdays of extended sick leave paid at half their regular salary. Previously, such employees received differential pay at the rate of a substitute for a five-month period. Each party must submit initial proposals by Dec. 15, with negotiations beginning around Feb. 1.