There will be no school on Friday, Aug. 26 in the Kent School District as a teachers’ union strike continues into day two without a contract agreement.
“After negotiating into the night, Wednesday, Aug. 24, our negotiation teams continued the mediation process Thursday morning and will continue as long as it takes to reach an agreement,” according to a district statement Thursday evening that announced there would no school on Friday.
Both sides are in mediation provided through the state Public Employment Relations Commission.
There was no school on Thursday, Aug. 25 due to the strike. That was the scheduled first day of school for the 2022-2023 school year.
About 95% of teachers who attended a Kent Education Association (KEA, union) meeting on Aug. 22 voted to strike if no contract agreement could be reached.
“The school district has not really been negotiation in good faith,” said Kim Cook, a third-grade teacher at Horizon Elementary in an Aug. 25 KEA Facebook post. “We’re willing to negotiate, but our asks aren’t just for us. We’re asking for things like mental health support for our students and for our special education teachers not to be absolutely drowning.”
The district said in its statement:
”Postponing the start of school affects everyone in our community and places a hardship on our families,” according to the district statement. “Please know that all meetings, kindergarten assessments and activities are canceled at the elementary and middle schools and will be rescheduled when school resumes. High school athletics continue as scheduled.”
The KEA said the main issues are mental health support for students, competitive salaries, lower class sizes for teachers and smaller caseloads for specialists such as special education teachers.
The district said it’s working to reach an agreement.
“Our bargaining teams are actively engaged in seeking solutions that will end the strike/work stoppage, reopen schools, and return to a cooperative and respectful learning environment,” according to the district statement.
Kent has 42 schools and academies across the district. The district has about 2,000 teachers and just under 24,000 students.
Teachers were on strike for about three weeks in 2009, which delayed the start of school until Sept. 15.
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