UPDATE, 7:20 a.m. Friday: Later Thursday night, after the premature report of success, the school district again announced a settlement. School is to start Monday.
STANWOOD — Uncertainty loomed over teacher contract talks in the Stanwood-Camano School District late Thursday.
The district initially announced a tentative agreement, then backtracked. “We hope to have good news soon,” a spokeswoman said at 8 p.m.
Classes are canceled Friday.
The teachers union posted a statement on its Facebook around 7:15 p.m. Thursday.
“We do not have a tentative agreement,” the post read. “We are very close and continue to work to reach an agreement. … The district’s robo-call was sent in error.”
The teachers had been on strike since Tuesday, the day school was supposed to start. They picketed in front of local campuses and rallied at a park downtown.
Union spokeswoman Jeanne Kelly said teachers have been underpaid and sought salaries that “correct the years of undercompensation.”
Earlier this week, the district announced an offer that included 11.79 percent pay raises for all teachers, with a beginning salary of $55,750 and a top salary of $107,536. Details of the negotiations since then have not been shared.
In the other districts around Snohomish County, students are back in school on time.
Stanwood-Camano was one of about a dozen districts statewide where the start of classes was delayed because of teacher strikes, state Superintendent Chris Reykdal said in a prepared statement Thursday.
“This year (unlike any year before), virtually every school district has been involved in substantial collective bargaining,” he said. “As the Legislature worked to fund basic education, they made significant changes to how school districts are funded and how educators are compensated.”
He urged patience and understanding as teachers and administrators try to localize “sweeping legislative policy changes.”
Stanwood students aren’t off the hook for the days that school was closed because of strikes. Schools must provide at least 180 days of instruction per year, so students can expect to make up missed days at the end of the year. As of May, the district reported enrollment of 4,617.
Teachers in the Monroe School District came close to a strike before the union and district settled early Tuesday. The teachers ratified a new three-year contract late Wednesday.
Under the agreement, starting pay for a beginning teacher will be $54,388, up from $50,216 in the contract that expired Aug. 31, according to Shaerie Bruton, president of the Monroe Education Association. Teachers at the top scale — which requires at least 16 years of experience and a master’s degree — will earn $112,280, up from $99,286 in the old contract.
Reporters Noah Haglund and Rikki King contributed to this story.
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