Gustine Unified School District Superintendent Bryan Ballenger will remain in his current position for four more years after the Board Of Trustees voted to approve a new employment contract last Wednesday.

“I don’t have plans on going anywhere,” Ballenger said. “There’s a lot of things here that we are trying to do that I want to see done.”

Ballenger, who has been district superintendent for eight years, will receive a salary increase at $224,977 along with $5,000 in stipends, according to the agenda report. Additionally, the district will contribute up to $15,000 as a part of his health and welfare package, the same coverage for full-time employees in the certificate management bargaining unit.

Ballenger will also have up to 12 days of pay in sick day leave. With the salary increase, his vacation days will decrease to 20 days from 30 days.

If terminated without cause, an amount equal to Ballenger’s monthly salary multiplied by the number of months left on the contract. If the duration is more than a year, the maximum payout will be the monthly salary multiplied by 12.

As he continues his tenure, Ballenger said growth in academic gains is one of things he wants to see continuing improving. In the 2025 California School Dashboard, the district saw improvements to English Learner Progress, English Language Arts and College and Career Readiness from the year prior. Chronic Absenteeism, however, worsened as GUSD saw 3.8% increase from 2024 as 27.3% of students were chronically absent.

“It’s always important that we work on [the] academic achievement of students increasing their skill sets through the instruction we provide in the classroom,” Ballenger said. “I think I look forward to, over the next four years, continuing to develop and foster the relationship that we have with our labor partners, so that we can achieve those gains for our students.