{"id":125777,"date":"2026-01-08T22:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T22:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/125777\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T22:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T22:59:08","slug":"san-diego-unified-to-close-schools-during-one-day-labor-strike-in-february","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/125777\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego Unified to close schools during one-day labor strike in February"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Encanto<\/a>Parents take their children to class at Encanto Elementary School. (File photo courtesy of SDUSD)<\/p>\n

San Diego schools will close for one day next month to coincide with a day-long strike by the San Diego Education Association<\/a> over special education issues.<\/p>\n

The job action at San Diego Unified School District<\/a> schools is set for Feb. 26, officials said in a Thursday news release.<\/p>\n

According to the district, this gives local educators the opportunity to stand with the California Teacher\u2019s Association as it seeks an increase in pay and benefits. <\/p>\n

SDEA members, though, contend that the fight is local. The district, SDEA posted on social media, \u201ccontinues to ignore our contract on special education staffing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of the cause, San Diego schools Superintendent Fabi Bagula urged families to \u201cbegin to find alternative arrangements for their children\u201d ahead of the Feb. 26 strike. <\/p>\n

\u201cClosing schools for one day will ensure that students are not placed in situations where adequate supervision, instructional continuity, and campus safety cannot be reliably maintained,\u201d she said. \u201cI am deeply committed to protecting instructional time and will ensure that this learning is fully recovered.\u201d<\/p>\n

The make up date for classes will be March 9.<\/p>\n

On Dec. 18, SDEA announced on social media that more than 90% of its members voted yes to authorize a one-day unfair labor practices strike due to conflicts over special education staffing. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe message is clear,\u201d they posted. \u201cSDEA is ready to strike if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

SDEA is seeking a raise \u2013 the district has proposed no increases for the 2025-26 school year and a raise next year that is contingent on state and federal funding \u2013 and better pay and protections for special education teachers.<\/p>\n

The district, in its news release, acknowledged that the union has filed claims regarding some SDUSD practices, but said that both parties continue to negotiate.<\/p>\n

SDUSD officials also argued that its salaries and benefits are among \u201cthe highest in San Diego County\u201d and \u201cnearly 10% higher than California average.\u201d As far as special education staffing, they added, 97% of full-time special education teacher positions are filled and caseloads are \u201cless than (the) state maximum.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur educators are among the highest paid in the region, receive comprehensive benefits fully funded by the district, and work in classrooms with some of the lowest class size ratios in the region,\u201d Bagula said. \u201cWe have put concrete solutions on the table that remain under consideration, and we remain committed to bargaining in good faith and reaching an agreement that keeps students at the center.\u201d<\/p>\n

SDEA, meanwhile, is planning a Jan. 27 rally at district headquarters in University Heights, calling it \u201cour last attempt to force the District to end its Unfair Labor Practice before our February strike.\u201d<\/p>\n

City News Service contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT\n\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parents take their children to class at Encanto Elementary School. (File photo courtesy of SDUSD) San Diego schools…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[65326,74,76,75,1354,11905],"class_list":{"0":"post-125777","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-organized-labor","9":"tag-san-diego","10":"tag-san-diego-headlines","11":"tag-san-diego-news","12":"tag-san-diego-unified-school-district","13":"tag-union-negotiations"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}