Start date of Everett schools awaiting contract negotiations

EVERETT — School starts in about a month for most kids in Snohomish County.

That’s probably the case in Everett Public Schools as well, but when exactly the first day of school will be is still up in the air.

That’s because the start date is subject to contract negotiations between the school district and the teachers union.

Traditionally, the first day of class has been the Wednesday after Labor Day, district spokeswoman Mary Waggoner said.

This year, Labor Day comes a bit later, so the tentative start date would be Sept. 9.

Some districts, such as the Marysville School District, already have announced Sept. 9 will be the first day of school.

“I think there’s a desire by both parties to start the year on the Wednesday after Labor Day,” said Jared Kink, the president of the Everett Education Association.

Normally there’s a teacher work day before then, Kink said.

“The state being so late with budget really impeded negotiations,” he added.

According to the union, the start date has been subject to contract negotiations since 1999.

The lateness of the negotiations isn’t even that unusual, Waggoner said.

In 2009, negotiations lasted into early September, Waggoner said. The year 2009 had an identical calendar to 2015, with the Wednesday after Labor Day also falling on Sept. 9.

Then in 2012, the district and union settled on a new contract relatively quickly after the end of the year, and the start date was able to be announced right afterward, Waggoner said.

The current contract with the teachers expires Aug. 31.

“It’s not unusual for contract negotiations to go into August or early September,” Waggoner said.

But because a larger number of people have moved into the district since 2009, and more staff have been hired since then, this is likely the first time many of them have experienced the effect of extended labor negotiations.

All of which means that school might still start on the target date of Sept. 9.

“That’s what we’ve been telling people they should plan for,” Waggoner said.

Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.