Teachers in Highline and Renton school districts will vote on new contracts Monday, and Shoreline teachers will vote Thursday. But there’s no tentative contract yet in Seattle.
Shoreline teachers reached an agreement on a new contract with their district’s leaders on Thursday, leaving Seattle the only King County school district without a teachers contract as the first day of school approaches.
After 28 hours of negotiations over two days, the Shoreline Education Association and Shoreline Public Schools reached a tentative agreement, according to the teachers union. Bargaining began last spring, and teachers had previously given their union authorization to call a strike.
The nearly 600-member association will hold a ratification meeting Thursday. Classes are scheduled to start Sept. 9.
The union said no details will be released before Thursday’s vote, and the same is true in Highline and Renton, where teachers will vote Monday on tentative contract agreements, approval of which would clear the way for Renton schools to start Tuesday, and Highline schools to start Thursday for first- through 12th-graders and Sept. 9 for kindergartners.
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In Auburn, the teachers union and the school district reached a tentative agreement this week, according to Auburn Education Association President Dianne Jordan. A union vote is set next week; school is to start Sept. 9.
In Seattle, bargaining continued Friday. The teachers union has authorized a strike vote for Thursday if a tentative agreement isn’t reached by that time. Classes are scheduled to start six days later, Sept. 9.
“Things aren’t progressing well,” Seattle Education Association President Jonathan Knapp said at a rally Thursday. “It’s been slow and difficult.”
According to the union, the two sides remain far apart on several issues, including instructional time and pay increases. Union members picketed on Interstate 5 overpasses last week to support the bargaining team and held a rally Thursday at Leschi Elementary for the union’s proposal of having 45 minutes of guaranteed recess for elementary students.
The first day of school in Everett hasn’t been set because the calendar is part of the negotiations, which are still ongoing in that district, according to Everett Public Schools. The Everett Education Association and school district will be talking through the weekend.
In Franklin County, Pasco educators also will be negotiating with the district through the weekend to try to come to an agreement by Monday. If the two sides don’t reach a tentative agreement, members will take a strike vote later that afternoon, Pasco Association of Educators President Greg Olson said Friday.