One by one, they pulled into the lot of the Regal Cinemas Marysville 14 theater. In the middle of a weekday, parents were treating kids to "Good Boy!" a movie about talking dogs from outer space.
Routines turned topsy-turvy are part of the ripple effect of the Marysville teachers’ strike, now in its 44th day. Ramifications are reaching beyond teachers, students and their families to the wider community, including the business community.
Theater management wouldn’t discuss whether the strike has been good for business.
"We’re getting a sense that entertainment venues for youth are understandably doing very well," said Caldie Rogers, president of the Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce. "But bigger purchasing is standing still. In many cases, parents are paying up to $900 a month for child care.
"With each passing day, the ripple effect is getting stronger," Rogers said.
The economic impact is affecting sales both small and large, from restaurants to real estate offices.
Debbie Wilber, assistant manager at the Golden Corral Family Steaks &Buffet, thinks the strike is cutting into business at the Marysville restaurant.
"It’s slowed down considerably. People are having to spend more money on day care, and they don’t have the extra money," Wilber said. "Mostly at dinner, it’s been real quiet the last month and a half. It’s really slow."
Gary Wright, who runs Coldwell Banker-Gary Wright Realty Inc. in Marysville, said it’s difficult to measure the strike’s impact. Yet he’s aware of two home purchases, both involving teachers, that are now on hold.
"What’s going on does have an effect on whether or not people want to buy in your school district," Wright said.
The strike hasn’t hurt business at the Skate Inn, a Marysville roller rink, but owner Dianne Groves sees how it’s affecting many children.
"The kids are bored, they really are bored. They want to be back in school," Groves said.
For the duration of the strike, the Skate Inn is sticking with its summer schedule of an open skate from 1-4 p.m. Wednesdays. Two of Groves’ employees are high school seniors who are keeping daytime work hours during the strike. "They’d much rather be in school," she said.
Business is nothing to sing about at Cascade Music in Marysville, which rents band instruments to students.
"We’ve been hanging out waiting for school. September is usually our biggest month," said Larry Hansen, general manager of the music store on State Avenue.
The store rents more than 200 instruments to students in the Marysville School District. Typically, students are tested at school before they come in for rentals, Hansen said.
"It’s about 30 percent of our business," he added. "We’re not taking up sides, they both have their reasons, but it’s got to come to a conclusion."
At the Marysville branch of the YMCA of Snohomish County, executive director Wendy Bart gets a painful view of financial hardships caused by the strike.
"We’ve had single parents at our counter in tears," Bart said. "All-day care is twice as expensive as before- or after-school care. They were planning for 10 weeks of summer. For one month, with two kids that’s about $1,000 for child care.
"We’ve seen a huge increase in the need for financial assistance," said Bart, adding that the nonprofit agency won’t turn anyone away.
At the start of the strike, the YMCA was caring for about 50 school-age children. "Parents had planned, they had other options. Now we’re ranging from 75 to 90 kids," Bart said. "I can see the stress in them. They’re having trouble dealing with this much time."
For older kids, time can translate into trouble.
"Generally speaking, during the summer months there is a small spike in juvenile crime," said Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux of the Marysville Police Department. "The longer this is protracted out, we’ll probably see a longer spike. Once kids get back in school, juvenile crime generally goes down."
The stress is showing in adults, too.
At a committee meeting of the Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce on Monday night, "two gentlemen were suddenly in a heated altercation," Rogers said. "They were on differing sides in the strike. Both ended up leaving."
In the midst of the labor dispute, it isn’t easy to tally the larger cost.
"It isn’t measurable, but any sort of unrest or friction has an effect," Wright said. "There’s just kind of an uneasiness."
Bart knows it will come down to more than money.
"It’s going to divide this community for a long time," she said.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.
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