California teachers union pushing for homeless access to school parking lots amid looming strike The Fresno school district says it does not plan to meet the union's demands Kassy Dillon By Kassy Dillon Fox News Published October 5, 2023 3:30pm EDT

A teachers union in California is pushing for the Fresno Unified School District to allow homeless families to park their cars in high school lots amid a looming strike.

The demand is included in the Fresno Teachers Association's "last, best, and final" contract offer to the superintendent. The document also asks for the district to allocate $500,000 for security in the lots.

"We do not plan to open our parking lots as FTA is demanding," Fresno Unified School District chief communications officer Nikki Henry told Fox News, adding that the district has experts in "education, not housing."

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Van dwelling in parking lot The Fresno Unified School District said it does not plan to open its parking lot to the homeless, despite the teachers union's demands. (iStock/Getty Images)

"While we are committed to ending homelessness, we are doing so through our realm of expertise and partnering with those whose realm of expertise is housing," she continued.

Henry said the district offers services to foster homeless youth through Project ACCESS, which provides academic and emotional support and financial assistance.

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Fresno Teachers Association President Manuel Bonilla told Fox News the idea to open parking lots to homeless families was included in a list of "potential examples" for helping unhoused students to discuss with the district. He added that it isn't "a major sticking point" and hasn't been discussed at the bargaining table.

He also said the request wasn't supposed to address the citywide homeless issue.

"Is it the school system’s job to fix everything in regards to societal things? Absolutely not," Bonilla said, according to Ed Source. "There are ideas on how we might do it because nobody else is thinking about these things."

"Instead of coming to the table and designing something with us, they’d rather scrutinize the idea and shut down the conversation," he continued. "Our ideas are not the end all, be all; they are a starting point."

School children in lot with bus The teachers union wants the district to pay $500,000 for security to be present in the lots it wants the homeless to have access to. (iStock video/Getty Images)

Bonilla said he is open to better ideas but said the district doesn’t "even want to have the conversation."

"[T]he district would rather ignore issues, including the entire unhoused student issue, using one bullet point potential discussion item then to do the work of collaborating on authentic ways to address our students’ needs," he told Fox News.

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The district had 496 homeless students during the 2022-23 school year, a 30% increase from the previous school year, reported The Fresno Bee.

The teachers union's proposal to open parking lots, first reported by The Washington Free Beacon, was in the "Social/Emotional Supports & Safety" section. Other demands to help students in need include allocating $1 million for clothes and school supplies; $1.75 million for creating a food pantry with hygiene products; $20 million for addressing student homelessness; $1 million for free laundry services; $1 million for free yoga; and meditation and low-impact exercise.

Fresno Unified School district building Fresno Unified School District said it is an expert in providing education, not helping the homeless. (Google Maps)

Major points of contention in the negotiation are over lowering class size, increasing salaries to keep up with inflation, reducing special education caseloads, hiring more nurses and more, Bonilla told Fox News.

The negotiations surpassed the Sept. 29 deadline the union set to avoid a strike and seemingly continue to deteriorate with the district promoting a $500-a-day pay for substitute teachers, The Fresno Bee reported. If a resolution is not made soon, the union’s approximately 4,000 members are expected to vote on whether to strike later this month.

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"If we're unable to reach an agreement, we are well-prepared and will ensure that our schools stay open, safe, and full of learning," Henry told The Washington Free Beacon.

She added that students "cannot afford another school closure after the pandemic."