FEATURE
Summer Assistance Program
Summer Assistance Program Provides Helping Hand for Under 12-Month Employees
For some classified employees, the summer isn’t a time to refresh after the hectic energy of the school year.
While many members can rely on consistent paychecks due to year-round work, others wonder how they will make ends meet until school starts again.
This is the struggle California’s classified employees working 11 months or fewer face every year, when they find themselves staring at the prospect of handling all of life’s expenses without a paycheck until the next school year.
That’s where the California School Employees Summer Assistance Program comes in.
Newport-Mesa Unified Chapter 18 members pack the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board room on December 12, 2023, to advocate for the district to participate in the Classified School Employees Summer Assistance Program.
CSEA was instrumental in the creation and expansion of CSESAP, seeing the value it provided to members and seeking to expand it to as many union siblings as possible. The provisions of a proposed bill by CSEA's Governmental Relations team were enacted in the 2022-23 fiscal year budget, resulting in the expansion of the program to community college classified employees and permanent funding.
In districts that agree to participate, the programs allow classified employees to specify an amount of their paychecks up to 10% to be set aside during the school year. They can then elect to have that money paid out in either one or two payments with the state matching it up to dollar for dollar.
“I think it definitely alleviates stress in those summer months,” Gracie Charon, chapter president of Fremont High Chapter 237. “It’s nice to not need to work summer school, if you have the option to do so, and I think it provides that flexibility.”
When the program began in the 2019-20 school year, 203 local education agencies participated with a total of $32,072,873 set aside by employees and matched.
Fremont High Chapter 237 was the first group of classified employees to sign up for CSESAP. Back then, the Fremont Union High School District brought the program to classified employees and Charon says it’s only become simpler to sign up in the years since as eligibility has increased and the district has honed their process for collecting signups.
“Over the years, as the [income] cap has expanded, it’s actually become pretty easy,” she explained.
In districts that are not participating, employees can contact their chapter president and labor relations representative to learn how to encourage their district to participate. Since the program requires school districts to opt-in to participate, it becomes of huge importance for chapters to bring awareness to their district. This school year, districts must notify the state they intend to participate by January 1, 2025, for the next school year.
Members of Newport-Mesa Unified Chapter 18 pose outside the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board room during their fight for NMUSD to participate in CSESAP.
While CSESAP has grown tremendously since its inception as more and more classified employees learn of its existence and bring it to their districts’ attention, persistence by CSEA chapters has been the deciding factor in some districts participating.
North Coast Employees Chapter 492 was one that experienced pushback from their district. After explaining CSESAP to their superintendent in the Coast Unified School District in San Luis Obispo County, they were told no.
When the school board asked Chapter President Lori Nunes why they were told no in a board meeting, she responded “You’ll have to ask Superintendent Smith. I just asked him the same question 15 minutes ago.”
Two days later, CUSD implemented CSESAP and eligible classified employees can now participate in the program.
In Newport-Mesa Unified Chapter 18, their fight began in 2018. After years of advocating for their district to implement the program, they put together an action committee under the moniker “CSESAP ASAP” when negotiations in October 2023 fell short.
Chapter members packed the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board room on December 12, 2023, and made their voices heard. When the district still did not opt in at the next opportunity, putting it off until the next reopener cycle, members continued to openly advocate at board meetings while the negotiations team prioritized CSESAP. This two-pronged approach resulted in NMUSD committing to CSESAP for the 2025-26 school year and beyond, with a tentative agreement ratified on September 5th.
Eligible classified employees in participating districts then have until March 1, 2025 to let their districts know they will join the program for the 2025-26 school year.
For the current 2024-25 school year, an estimated 62,389 K-12 classified employees from 447 LEAs are participating. The program is funded at $90,000,000 for 2024-25.
At the community college level, where year-round employment is more common, 122 classified employees are participating from 21 districts.
"There’s nothing to lose here,” Charon said. “Bring it to your district, share it with your members. Encourage people to voice their interest in it. I think it’s a great thing for classified staff.”
A significant victory for classified staff across California, CSESAP is a powerful example of the value of union membership. Without an organization with the strength, unity, and resources of CSEA taking action in this fight, many classified employees would still enter the summer months wondering how they were going to pay their bills or afford food until school started up again.
