Published October 1, 2026
By GRACE GRAHL
On Sept. 9, approximately 90 teachers from across Carmel Unified School District banded together to voice concerns about an exemption waiver they were unaware of until it was disclosed in the board meeting agenda the prior Friday…on page 79 of a 134-page summary of the Summary of Unaudited Actual Data Submission. This waiver was presented by the school board as a way to bypass the rule that 55% of expenses are to go to classroom teachers and instructional aides.
Ultimately, board members passed the waiver, along with the unaudited actuals financial report of the fiscal year, further deteriorating the bond of trust between the teachers and the district.
The district this year paid $1.1 million less than the law requires, compelling them to file a waiver. CUSD pays the teachers in this district more than other comparable districts, such as Pacific Grove Unified School District and Beverly Hills Unified School District, allowing them to use the exemption waiver, the result of a 97-year-old rule in the California Education Code in Section 41372 stating that a unified school district must spend 55% of their expenses on the compensation of classroom teachers, which includes teachers and instructional aides. CUSD pays more employees than just this category, such as janitors, office staff, health technicians, school psychologists, librarians and others.
“It leaves out our counselors, our nurses, our psychologists, our mental health clinicians, our librarians, our social workers and many more,” CUSD superintendent Ofek said during the Sept. 9 board meeting. “Some of the very people who support our classrooms every day are not counted in that calculation at all even though the district compensates and values them fully.”
The exemption waiver is not a new introduction to the district, as this is the fourth consecutive year that the waiver has been filed and approved by the Monterey County Office of Education. Last school year, the district spent 53.57% of expenses on classroom teachers and instructional aids. This calculation is the total compensation for classroom teachers and aids divided by the current expense of education.
Ultimately, this waiver and all the tension that comes with it is not the real issue, according to multiple teachers during the board meeting. The real issue, they say, is that the board and the teachers do not have the connection of trust to make plans for the new year, discuss problems and solutions or focus on the one thing that brings each employee to school every day: the students.
“We’re not here because of a waiver that was being made,” said Carmel Middle School science teacher Joe Guzzi during public comment at the board meeting on Sept. 9. “We’re here because there’s an underlying issue of trust, of collaboration, of building our strength, of looking to each other to make a better place for our children.”
If CUSD schools have under 28 pupils in grades kindergarten through eighth and under 25 pupils in grades nine through twelve, the 55% law would not be applicable. While the elementary schools and CMS follow this requirement, CHS class sizes frequently exceed this number. Nora Ward, an AP Psychology and history teacher at CHS, has five out of six classes she teaches exceeding 25 students.
“We have larger class sizes and less help,” Ward said. “We have teachers retire and not be replaced. We have more teachers teaching extra classes. We have more work. Personally, this year I have one prep period. I have 165 students that I am following. My senior government economics classes are larger than they have ever been in my 25 years.”
CHS English department chair Shelley Grahl also faces difficulty when performing day to day tasks required for her job.
“When I ask for a new overhead projector because I’ve been using the same one every single day for 10 years, and it’s about to break, I am told that not only will they not buy me a new one, but they do not support my use of it,” said Grahl. “Ten years ago, each member of the English department was given two paid days per school year to grade essays when our load got to be too overwhelming. Today, those paid days are gone. And if I need a day to catch up on grading essays for my 123 students, I have to use one of my sick days to do my job.”
After the unaudited actuals financial report is completed, it is published on the district website along with the Summary of Unaudited Actual Data Submission where the official exemption waiver is filed. Although the district is completely transparent with what they are going to approve, it is difficult to find the important information within the 134-page document filled with expenditures and expenses.
“When they are completed, they are publicly posted,” said CUSD board president Matt Glazer in an interview with The Sandpiper. “What we heard at the board meeting was that that is not sufficient outreach or sufficient transparency, but that is complete transparency by the letter of the law.”
Bill Schrier, president of the Association of Carmel Teachers, remembers a time when the association’s president and vice president would meet bi-weekly to converse with each other on issues and discuss solutions. Now, he says the relationship has dissolved and the district office and schools seem to work as different entities rather than cooperating to build a better curriculum, environment and experience for all students at every school.
“Transparency is an important value in any organization, but especially in a public school system,” Schrier told The Sandpiper. “I’m hopeful that there will be greater emphasis on that in the future.”
Looking forward into the 2026-27 school year, it is up in the air whether the waiver will be filed again, as the bargaining between the district and the teachers association begins Oct. 5. Glazer said that solutions will only be reached to administration issues if everyone comes together to work towards a compromise that is fully transparent to teachers and is equitable for the compensation of all staff members of CUSD schools.
“When the teachers association, the classified association, the district cabinet and school site leaders sit at a table together, we can solve problems in a better way,” Glazer told The Sandpiper. “I am calling upon association leadership. I’m calling upon the district leadership to figure out what it’s going to take to create a bigger table and to do the work of collaboration.”
The Association of Carmel Teachers, led by president Bill Schrier, is an organized, tight-knit community of teachers who are advocating for transparency from the CUSD district office. courtesy of CUSD
While some teachers may believe that they are unable to sway board members or their concerns are falling on deaf ears, the Sept. 9 board meeting demonstrated that with collaboration and communication, their words can move the board, as shown with CUSD board member Rita Patel, who dissented the vote to pass the 2025-26 unaudited actuals financial report.
“I feel backed in the corner to vote yes on this,” said Patel. “And this amount, $1.1 million, is huge. Coming in I thought one thing. But now listening to the entire discussion, I think we need to do more than just having more updates. We need to take a serious look at this. I know the board’s probably not happy with my vote, but I’m not comfortable with the direction that it’s going in.”
Whether the waiver is filed next fiscal year or not, the teachers demand transparency and accountability. They believe that problems can be solved if teachers are involved in the decision-making that directly impacts educators and the students they teach every day.
“I think of the classroom as the center of our value system as an Association,” said Kristine Aguirre, Organizing Committee Chair for ACT. “I truly believe that Carmel has the potential to be the best in the state. That being said, at the moment I don’t get a sense that teachers feel that their experiences are being valued. Both sides need to listen, even when the conversations are difficult, and I believe that a common ground exists. For now, there is a sense that teachers don’t have a seat at the table for important conversations, and that can erode morale when our focus is always on doing what is right for students.”
The author is the daughter of CHS English department chair Shelley Grahl.
