On September 18, 2026, the Ventura Unified School District presented the Ventura Unified Education Association (VUEA) with a new total compensation (pay and health benefit costs) offer built around a six percent (6%) raise for VUEA (certificated) members, including teachers, counselors, nurses, and teacher-librarians. The District and VUEA's last proposals in April 2026 led to the recent impasse mediation process. The District's offer breaks the impasse and brings the parties back to the negotiations table, which is not bound by confidentiality as the impasse mediation process was. 

District leaders say the offer reflects the District's commitment to improving employee compensation while sharing responsibility with certificated members to maintain sustainable health benefit plans and offerings. The offer aligns with long-term recruitment and retention goals. It also allows the District to ensure long-term financial stability.

The District and VUEA had been participating in a confidential mediation process. The parties were prohibited and agreed not to disclose mediation proposals and/or discussions. The District and VUEA will now return to meet and negotiate in good faith in the regular negotiations process. The District will keep their community informed as the process continues and will post proposals made by all parties as they have done in the past. They will be posted on the VUSD Negotiations webpage.

 

The Offer

•      Effective January 1, 2027, certificated members will receive a six percent (6%) salary raise

•      In addition to existing health benefit plans, six (6) new health benefit plans will be offered for certificated members to choose from.

•      Certificated members who prefer to elect more expensive health benefit plans will receive an 80 percent contribution towards the cost from the District and pay an employee share of 20 percent (Participants can pay premiums with pre-tax dollars.)

•      Starting January 1, 2027, legacy certificated member* participants will have access to nine no-cost plans. These legacy members in plans with a Health Savings Account (HSA) costing less than $20,000 will receive a District contribution to their HSA. The contribution equals $20,000 minus the total cost of the plan, up to the IRS limit of $4,500, effective January 1, 2027.

•      Starting January 1, 2027, non-legacy certificated member* participants will have access to seven no-cost plans. Certificated members in plans with a Health Savings Account (HSA) costing less than $18,000 will receive a District contribution to their HSA. The contribution equals $18,000 minus the total cost of the plan, up to the IRS limit of $4,500, effective January 1, 2027.

•      For certificated members with more than ten years in the District who give a resignation or retirement notice by December 1, 2026,  with their last workday in the 2026-2027 school year, the District will pay their share of health premium costs through their last day of work (on or before June 30, 2027).

* Legacy certificated members are those employed by the District on or before February 13, 2024. Non-legacy members were hired on or after February 14, 2024.

Why This Offer Works

In 2024-25, the District paid $26.6M in health and welfare benefit costs. Those costs rose to $27.7 million in 2025-26. VUEA members last received a salary increase in July 2024. Efforts to share in the responsibility to contain health and welfare benefit costs with VUEA were ineffective. Health and welfare costs and salaries are paid out of the same budget area. Increases in health benefit costs impact the District's ability to offer raises. VUSD's teachers are among the lowest paid in Ventura County.

Approximately 50% of VUSD's teachers earn $100,000 or more. A six percent (6%) raise is at least $6,000 or more per year for those certificated members. This proposal allows all VUEA members to choose from a variety of no-cost plans. Should they prefer a more expensive plan, they would share in its cost (20%). For most, their raise would cover this cost and would improve retirement pay.

The District's offer is a responsible step toward closing the pay gap between VUSD and other Districts' certificated members in the county and improving VUEA members' pay. Sharing with VUEA members in the higher-cost plans allows the District to plan budgets more effectively and improve VUEA's salaries.

Why the District is taking this action now

Although no agreement was reached in mediation, the confidential discussions provided new perspectives. The District has determined it can responsibly improve upon its last formal offer. In truth, this is also a much improved offer from VUEA's April 2026 proposal that did not include a pay increase for its members. The District hopes the proposal will receive serious consideration.

By breaking impasse and returning to the negotiations table, the District hopes to put our at-large community at ease over the uncertainty of the fact-finding process and potential outcomes. 

Part of a broader effort

The District's offer is made with a clear view of the road ahead. The District believes state and federal funding for schools remains well short of what students and staff need. An improved salary is one piece of a broader effort to recruit and retain dedicated employees. The sale of the Education Service Center (ESC) property and other surplus properties gives the District the ability to rent housing to its own employees at an affordable price. Taken together, the plans for educator workforce housing and the terms of VUSD's proposal say one thing clearly: the District values the people who work here and wants them to stay.