Contract negotiations between the Fresno Teachers Association and the Fresno Unified School District have stalled and could lead to a strike in the coming weeks, after the union made a series of demands the district found unacceptable, including opening school parking lots for homeless families living in their vehicles.
“While we are committed to ending homelessness, we are doing so through our realm of expertise and partnering with those whose realm of expertise is housing,” Nikki Henry, chief communications officer for the Fresno Unified School District, told The Epoch Times by email on Oct. 5. “We do not plan to open our parking lots as [the teachers’ association] is proposing.”
The district currently offers services to youth in the region affected by homelessness, provided through a program designed to guide and track the progress of at-risk youth.
“At Fresno Unified, we provide exceptional service to our foster and homeless youth through our Project ACCESS,” Ms. Henry said. “The program offers increased academic and social emotional supports, connections to resources.”
More than 4,200 homeless people were living in the Fresno area as of 2022, the most recent point-in-time count conducted for the region. About 460 were supervised children.
Organizations better equipped to handle homelessness in the region could have a more meaningful effect than opening school parking lots would, she said.
“We are the experts in education, not housing,” Ms. Henry said. “We’re grateful to our partners who are experts in housing and look to partner with them, such as Fresno Housing, the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care, and the Fresno County Department of Social Services.”
About 70,000 students could be missing instruction soon if the two sides don’t come to an agreement, and with the union’s “last, best, and final offer” sent in May including demands that the district is staunchly opposed to, no resolution is in sight.
Arguments surround salary increases, lifetime benefits, and a cap on class size. Regarding higher pay, the union provided two options, opposed by the district, that both include annual raises and one-time payments totaling about $28,000.
But of primary concern to district negotiators is the list of social and emotional support and safety requirements the union is demanding that the district has said are inappropriate for inclusion in the contract.
Such demands include the idea of allowing homeless people to sleep in their vehicles in school parking lots—without specifying whether this would occur while children are attending classes. The union claims that the cost would be $500,000, for security, but expenditures would be closer to $900,000, according to the district.
Limited to one sentence, the demand leaves uncertain whether only families of students would be allowed access to the parking lots, and the district has said that policing such access would present its own set of challenges.
“I’m also not sure how you would monitor who are students’ families and who are not,” Ms. Henry said.
The union is also demanding the district pay $20 million to address youth homelessness, $1 million annually for clothes and school supplies for needy students, $1 million for free laundry services for students, and another $1 million for after-school programs including yoga.
After meetings in July and September ended without progress, and with no agreements anticipated by either side, the union is expected to vote in favor of a strike on Oct. 18, according to statements Fresno Unified School District Superintendent Robert G. Nelson made to the school board on Sept. 27.
Recognizing the imminent possibility of a strike, the superintendent requested from the board, and was granted, permission to hire teachers on an emergency basis to replace striking workers.
“The absence of a large number of employees from the district or from any work site will jeopardize the safety and security of students and cause a breakdown in the educational program, which will constitute an emergency,” Mr. Nelson stated. “In the event of any actual or serious threat of a concerted employee work stoppage, all schools should remain open, and every reasonable effort shall be made to provide students with a quality educational program.”
Teachers who choose to participate in a strike wouldn’t be paid, nor would they be allowed to use vacation time or sick leave, he said.
Replacement teachers can be hired at rates not to exceed $500 per day, according to the resolution that passed unanimously and became effective immediately due to its status as an emergency measure.
The teachers’ association didn’t respond by press time to a request for comment.
