Fed up with low salaries after months of negotiations, Carpinteria Unified School District employees took to the streets Friday afternoon to march for better compensation.

Marches started at Carpinteria Middle School, Carpinteria High School, Aliso Elementary School and Canalino Elementary, then converged at the corner of Carpinteria and Linden avenues.

Krista Munizich, a third-grade teacher at Canalino who has worked for the district for 29 years, said there is a lack of support for employees who work directly with students. 

“It’s about time they start showing their actions to match their words and showing that they value educators and the people that are working day-to-day with the students,” Munizich said. “We deserve to be recognized for all the hard work we do.”

She said she was a member of the employee union negotiating team for 15 years but quit because of how toxic the environment became. 

“It’s time for the district leadership to step up and do the right thing and work with us in a kind and respectful way,” Munizich said.

The Carpinteria Unified School District and the Carpinteria Association of Unified School Employees have been in negotiations for salary raises for 19 months.

The parties reached an impasse six months ago; meanwhile, employees say they’re struggling to keep up with the cost of living.

More than 100 teachers, employees, students and community members participated in Friday’s march and rally. They stood on all four corners of Linden and Carpinteria avenues while drivers passed by, honking in support. 

Santa Barbara County First District Supervisor Roy Lee joined in to support educators. 

“They’re underpaid, they’re under-appreciated, and anything we can do to make them happy, I’m a big supporter of,” Lee said.

Leticia Real, a special-education teacher who has worked at Carpinteria High School for 15 years, said she’s disappointed that district leadership has received raises while teachers haven’t.

“We want to be fairly compensated, we want the district to put students first, we want to be shown respect. That’s what it boils down to — respect,” Real said.

She said she attended Friday’s march because she felt like employees were not being heard. 

“We want to be treated with fairness and respect,” Real said, “and we feel we are not being heard, and this is what we need to do so someone listens to us.”