Gustine Unified School District and its California School Employees chapter, Gustine Unified Chapter 539, agreed to a three-year collective bargaining agreement after the district’s Board of Education voted Wednesday.

According to the agenda item report, the agreement includes union members receiving a 2% salary increase, the same increase that the Gustine-Romero Teachers Association in its agreement earlier this year. Superintendent Bryan Ballenger said the change was because of a me-too clause in the CSEA’s agreement. After previously receiving a 1.84% salary increase, the change will go in effect on April 30.

Additionally, the union agreed to negotiate two changes to sections in contract at most in the next two school years, 2026-27 and 2027-28. Both parties hold off discussions on Technology or Artificial Intelligence and cell phone use in a future bargaining session.

In an email to the Westside Connect, Ballenger stated that the district and union will continue negotiating “aspects of contract language.” He added that the district will have an idea on how future salary increases will look following future negotiations with GRTA.

“The district will have a clearer understanding of potential future salary adjustments for GRTA once those negotiations begin,” Ballenger wrote.

Both parties previously reached a tentative agreement in June 2025 that included CSEA receiving a salary increase and $500 employee contribution increase at $15,000 this school year, with $250 increase in each of the next two school years.