AUSD again hears numerous complaints in public comment

By Michael Chaldu · Wed Feb 18 2026

District educators and supporters advocate for COLA increase and protection from ICE

ATASCADERO — For the second straight meeting, this one on Feb. 17, the Atascadero Unified School District Board of Trustees and Superintendent Dr. Tom Bennett, heard from teachers, parents, and students concerning the district, chief among them negotiations on teachers' pay, and assurances that AUSD students would be protected from any raids from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

As in the previous meeting, speakers criticized the lack of a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), which AUSD teachers say is actually a pay cut. At that meeting, Atascadero District Teachers Association President Andrew Weatherly, who was not present at the latest meeting, said most of the other districts in the county have gotten the full COLA.

Several teachers and parents came up to the podium to ask the district to give the teachers the 2% COLA raise the ADTA requested in negotiations.

"The living wage in California for a single person with no dependents is $62,000; AUSD teachers make $56,000, which means our teachers live below poverty line. Asking for a meager 2-percent raise, if we got that, we would still be $4,000 below the line," she said. "These teacher could be teaching a future nurse at the hospital, the mechanic who works on your car, the middle school principal or board members. No raise would be a self-inflicted wound."

Tara Patterson, a social sciences and psychology teacher at Atascadero High School, used her own experience to illustrate the need to retain teachers.

"My first day at AHS was as a TA, and they had teachers who had taught at Atascadero longer than I've been alive, and they had multiple kids go through the school system," she said. "Five years later, I'm a teacher still working at the high school, and there are only 30% of the teachers at AHS who were there before I started; massive turnover.

"With high turnover like that, students experience less consistency, and we are constantly rebuilding culture rather than strengthening and honing what we do best.

We need to retain high-quality instructors."

An anonymous letter was read by San Gabriel Elementary kindergarten teacher Sarah Holland. The author, written by a "dedicated AUSD staff member" who feared retaliation, criticized recent spending by the board.

"I implore the board to address the unchecked spending since July of 2025," the letter said. The author also criticized Bennett and his "cabinet" for using the AUSD budget as "their own personal checking account," hiring consultants to help find a candidate for an upcoming staff vacancy, hiring "friends" for positions and speaking engagements, approving extra hours for retired staff members. "It is time to audit this spending; the board should be asking why we are prioritizing the comfort of the superintendent and his cabinets over the needs of the students."

Also on the minds of some speakers was concern about ICE agents coming to Atascadero schools. That issue came to a head at the Feb. 3 meeting when Atascadero Middle School teacher Jahan Merzai proposed a statement assuring students' protection from ICE agents, and announced he was leaving the job when that proposal was rejected.

Aaron Cotton, a parent of an AMS student, said students and parents are both worried about ICE.

"A teacher shouldn't have to risk his position to ask to have students protected," Cotton said, referring to Marzai's stand. "The school is required to have new procedures in place by March 1. We want to know: What is policy if ICE officers come to campus?"

Selby Price, an eighth-grader at AMS, also spoke out.

"We fear for the safety of our immigrant friends," they said. "This is about fear-mongering and bigotry. Please set a policy for immigrant enforcement proactively, so students don't have to live in fear."

After the public comment, Bennett used his Superintendent's Report time to address the comments just heard, and assured everyone he and the AUSD staff and board were willing to work toward an agreement.

"I want you to know that your concerns are valid, and I hear and understand what you're saying," he said.

Bennett said as far as teachers' pay and the COLA increase, the district is trying to work within its budget.

"Tonight we had a second round of the Budget Task Force," he said. "And what I've been trying to do since got here is get a grasp of where we are with the budget."

The superintendent said they would all need to work together to come to a beneficial solution.

"We are identifying the problem; we need to look a solution," Bennett said. "A partnership is what I want, with openness and transparency. We need to figure how we make best use of the resources to serve our students and family."

The Board of Trustees will next meet on Tuesday, March 3, at 7 p.m.

The LCAP is a three-year plan that describes the goals, actions, services, and expenditures to support positive student outcomes that address state and local priorities. The LCAP provides an opportunity for local educational agencies (LEAs: county office of education [COE], school districts and charter schools) to share their stories of how, what, and why programs and services are selected to meet their local needs.