ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - Frustrated with stalled contract negotiations, Elk Grove Unified School District bus drivers and transportation employees turned to another government body they hoped would listen and help them with their issues: the Elk Grove City Council.

Members of the Amalgamated Transportation Union 256 (ATU 256), which represents Elk Grove transportation workers, spoke to the council at its Aug.13 meeting, imploring it to support ATU 256’s contract negotiations.

The union has been negotiating with the school district since the previous two-year contract expired June 30, 2024, seeking increases in pay and medical benefits that would align the fourth-largest school district in California with other local, and smaller, school districts.

ATU 256 President and Business Agent Crystal McGee Lee said union members weren’t asking for huge increases in compensation and benefits. She said the public often hears about teacher compensation package issues more than other school unions’ needs, but that unions such as ATU 256 are the “heartbeat” of education.

“You’ve got to remember, the bus drivers, the schedulers, the maintenance, the attendants, those are the veins, those are the arteries; the heart doesn’t function without them,” McGee Lee said.

ATU 256 board member Edgard Baltodano said member wages have not kept pace with ever-rising costs. He claimed that, according to analysis of its recent budget, the school district has the resources to provide better wages and benefits for transportation employees.

“The real question is not whether the district can afford to do better, it’s whether the district chooses to,” Baltodano said.

According to information on its website, the Elk Grove Unified School District passed an $875.6 million total operating budget on June 24. The budget includes teacher compensation increases from the “Comprehensive Package Proposal” tentative agreement between the district and the Elk Grove Education Association established on April 18 covering school years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.

The latter featured a minimum 2% and “if contingency provisions are satisfied” a maximum 3% increase to teachers’ base salary.

According to California Department of Education statistics, with 64,358 students in the 2024-2025 school year, Elk Grove Unified is the fourth largest in the state, 1,411 students ahead of fifth-largest Long Beach Unified and 6,793 behind third-largest Fresno Unified. By comparison, San Juan Unified based in Carmichael is the seventh-largest (51,289), Twin Rivers Unified is 13th largest (43,274) and Sacramento City Unified is 15th largest at 42,337 students.

According to the Elk Grove district website, hourly wages for bus drivers begin at $21.84 while San Juan drivers begin at $23.18, Twin River drivers at $23.97 and Sacramento Unified drivers at $26.16. Additionally, Elk Grove bus attendant hourly wages begin at $16.90 while San Juan attendants start at $18.48 and Sacramento Unified attendants start at $19.30. 

In a story from a local news station, an Elk Grove School District spokesperson said the district transports over 10,000 students daily and currently employees 152 bus drivers and has 16 vacancies, 50% less than at the same time in 2024. The district also has 13 new drivers ready to take the California Highway Patrol School Bus Program driving tests.

“Last spring, EGUSD completed a comparability study that led to negotiated agreements placing transportation employees amongst the highest-paid in the county,” the district told the news station in a release.

Elk Grove driver John Montello told the City Council he is a single father of two children who is struggling financially. He noted that the school district’s top driver pay of $31.77 an hour is not far from the Sacramento Unified starting pay, and that he needs a raise and lower medical costs to help make ends meet.

Another woman told council she is a single mother of three children who finds it difficult to find another job to help with her budget because she works 12 hours a day driving for the district. Sylvia Lopez Garcia, who said she was raised in Elk Grove and has been driving for the district for eight years, expressed frustration with the lack of dialogue coming from the district

“We love our community,” she told council. “All we want is fair pay.”

“These people are people of service,” ATU 256 President McGee Lee said. “They are not servants.”

While listening to all of the union members who spoke at the Aug. 13 meeting, Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen said council’s hands were tied when it comes to the negotiations between the union and the school district.

“I see you,” Singh-Allen said. “I see you. I’ve heard compelling stories, but the City of Elk Grove and the council have zero authority in your negotiations with Elk Grove Unified School District.”

Just as the city wouldn’t want the school district interfering in its affairs, Singh-Allen said the city has “mutual respect and stays in our lanes” when it comes to how the school district conducts its business.

As a former school board member, she urged union members to continue to stay engaged and lobby Elk Grove School Board members on their issues.

“Please be reminded, we cannot assist in your negotiations, but I wish you all the best of luck,” Singh-Allen added.