early February note<\/a> to parents, said the district recognizes the difficulty of increasing health care costs. She said the district explored \u201ccreative options\u201d to medical plans, including a proposal that would save an individual teacher up to $3,700.<\/p>\n![\"Possible](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2-26-possible-teacher-strike-abr-1024x576.jpg\")
(Jamie Judd)<\/p>\n
Both sides trying to avert strike<\/p>\n
District and union leaders have each emphasized they are trying to avert a strike.<\/p>\n
The event of a work stoppage, especially one lasting multiple days, would unsettle thousands of students\u2019 classroom experience. In some cases \u2014 like in San Francisco earlier this month or at Sacramento City Unified in 2022 \u2014 schools temporarily close.<\/p>\n
But district leaders in Twin Rivers, Natomas and West Sacramento are pushing to keep the doors open, even if the regular teachers walk out.<\/p>\n
Twin Rivers trustees last week passed a set of protocols to follow in the event of a teacher strike. They include paying substitutes up to $600 a day and possibly reimbursing those who commute more than 15 miles.<\/p>\n
The Natomas Unified school board is considering a similar measure during a special meeting scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Washington Unified trustees are weighing their own version Thursday evening.<\/p>\n
On a webpage of negotiation updates, Natomas Unified notes that an average teacher with 10 years of experience will forfeit about $493 a day during a strike based on 183.5 instructional days each year. A veteran teacher at the top of the pay scale will forgo about $661 each day.<\/p>\n
Parents show support, consider impact<\/p>\n
Hundreds of educators poured into the Twin Rivers administration building Tuesday to demonstrate ahead of the school board\u2019s meeting. They were joined by many parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur teachers are not being heard,\u201d said Erika Flores, a mother of two students in the district. \u201cI wish they would be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"People\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC08209-1024x576.jpg\")
Supporters packed the Twin Rivers Unified School District office on Feb. 24, 2026, and some had to stand outside in the rain. (Martin Christian)<\/p>\n
Also that evening, members of the Natomas Teachers\u2019 Association hosted a virtual town hall for parents, explaining the current bargaining situation.<\/p>\n
Of the dozens of parents on the Zoom call, several declared support for the educators. Some questioned, though, if sending their students to class during a strike would be seen as crossing the picket line.<\/p>\n
Union leaders have urged parents to keep their kids out of class to put pressure on districts, since attendance is tied directly to state funding.<\/p>\n
This may be a difficult task for families with working parents, limited access to child care or whose children rely on free or reduced-price school meals.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course we\u2019re understanding,\u201d said Brittoni Ward, president of the Twin Rivers teacher union.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand that \u2026 the benefits of schools being open goes beyond the learning,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe will do everything that we can to get communication out and try to problem-solve how we can support our students without anyone having to cross the picket line.\u201d<\/p>\n
Savannah Kuchar\u00a0is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Abridged version: Three Sacramento-area school districts \u2014 Twin Rivers Unified in North Sacramento, Natomas Unified and Washington…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[5592,121,123,122],"class_list":{"0":"post-194809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-feature","9":"tag-sacramento","10":"tag-sacramento-headlines","11":"tag-sacramento-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194809","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=194809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Woman\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC08168-1024x576.jpg\")
Sarah Cavalari, vice president of the teachers\u2019 union, leads the crowd at a rally inside Twin Rivers Unified School District office on Feb. 24, 2026. (Martin Christian)<\/p>\n