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Livermore school district and teachers union negotiators agreed to terms that would end their impasse late Friday night, with a deal centered around two salary increases during the 2026 calendar year and additional health and welfare benefits.
The tentative agreement, which still needs to be ratified by Livermore Education Association membership and the district’s Board of Education in the coming weeks, calms months of contention at the bargaining table and in the court of public opinion – with a 14-hour-plus mediation session a week before winter break doing the trick.
“The support of parents and students speaking at Board meetings, community members writing letters, and LEA educators wearing blue with signs on the sidewalks in front of their school sites is what made this agreement possible,” LEA said in a statement posted on their website and Facebook page.
“Your efforts and voice made a difference, and because of that, we are extremely grateful to you. When we put our voices together, changes are made! Thank you,” the union added.
Steven Drouin, board president for the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District, told Livermore Vine in a statement, “This negotiated settlement represents a meaningful step in the right direction. Our teachers and specialists dedicate themselves every day to supporting our students, and I am pleased that these negotiations were resolved prioritizing them.”
“We are proud of the progress made during our mediation session and look forward to continuing our work together,” LVJUSD Superintendent Torie Gibson added. “As we move ahead, we will need to carefully review how every dollar is allocated and make thoughtful adjustments to ensure the long-term fiscal sustainability of our district, while continuing to prioritize and support our staff and students.”
Announced just after 11 p.m. Friday (Dec. 12), the tentative agreement includes increased compensation and benefits for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 academic years.
For the current fiscal year, the deal calls for a 4% increase to the LEA salary schedules effective Jan. 1 and a $1,600 increase toward members’ health and welfare benefits retroactive to July 1, 2025.
For next school year, there would be a 2% increase to the teacher salary schedule and a $3,000 increase toward health and welfare benefits – both effective July 1, 2026.
“The tentative agreement also increases salary and extends the work year for some special education positions,” Gibson said in a community message released late Friday night.
Full terms of the agreement have not yet been disclosed publicly. The union ratification vote would typically occur first, with the package brought to the five-member school board afterward – likely all done in January, given the calendar constraints with the winter holiday hiatus.
District officials confirmed to Livermore Vine on Saturday that the cost of the agreement would not threaten the budget solvency for 2025-26 but the district would need to make approximately $14.7 million in ongoing cuts for the 2026-27 budget and another $1.5 million for the 2027-28 budget. Those discussions could start soon, with a March deadline for layoff notification requirements, and the projections are dependent on state funding levels for those future years.
LEA President Aimee Thompson did not respond to requests for comment on the deal Saturday.
“You did an amazing job of speaking up, picketing in front of your school, leafletting to parents, writing letters to the Board, and wearing blue,” LEA said in a Facebook post directed at educators Saturday afternoon.
“Your collective efforts made a positive impact on our entire community. Do not lose sight that you stood for what is right for yourselves, your families, and your students and that made a difference!” the union added. “Thank you to each and every one of you that shared your story, your worries, and your time on the behalf of LEA. We are absolutely stronger together!”
In addition to teachers, LEA also represents counselors, nurses, psychologists, social workers and speech pathologists within LVJUSD.
The union and its supporters have been vocally advocating for higher wages and criticizing Gibson’s administration since the beginning of the school year, turning out to board meetings, rallying at school sites and blitzing social media with posts to spur engagement among its members and the Livermore community.
LVJUSD leaders held that any compensation increases needed to be fair and sustainable, especially for a district that faced deficit-spending and enacted millions in reductions, including layoffs, to pull its budget back toward fiscal solvency last school year. In education bargaining, pay raises given to a teachers union are typically then offered to other employee groups.
After unfruitful negotiation sessions between the two sides, LEA declared an impasse on Oct. 2 – setting up mediation by a state-appointed representative to try to move things along. That facilitated meeting was subsequently scheduled for Dec. 12.
The union and district bargaining teams sat down with the mediator for the first time starting at 9 a.m. Friday, and they came out of the room around 11 p.m. with a deal.
“Both our District and LEA teams worked tirelessly with the State-appointed mediator throughout the day and evening to reach this agreement,” Gibson said Friday night. “We are grateful to the members of both teams who remained focused on the goal of resolving these negotiations. Their commitment, patience, and unwavering focus on the shared goal of a resolved agreement is truly commendable.”
While Livermore was the first Tri-Valley district to face an impasse this year, it isn’t the only one so far. The Dublin Teachers Association declared a standstill last month, and the unions and districts in Pleasanton and the San Ramon Valley have been locked in contentious negotiations.
A number of educator unions across the state have reached impasse or rallied members aggressively this school year as part of the California Teachers Association’s “We Can’t Wait” campaign to coordinate advocacy for better compensation, putting pressure on locally and sending signals to Sacramento.
Two days before the Livermore mediation session, teachers in the West Contra Costa Unified School District agreed to a deal to end their strike that started the prior week – their walkout had been one of the first and largest escalations to labor unrest of the 2025-26 school year statewide.
‘United and serious’: Dublin teachers union authorizes strike amid stalled negotiationsFebruary 8, 2026 12:48 pm