LAKE STEVENS — Teachers and administrators agreed on a tentative contract Wednesday afternoon, in time to avoid a strike in the 7,500-student Lake Stevens School District.
The teachers last week had decided to strike if they didn’t have a contract by the first day of school, which was scheduled for Tuesday.
Under the new contract, the first day of school has been pushed back one day, to Wednesday, Sept. 9.
“There is a great sense of relief that we’re going to start school on time and that we have an agreement we can bring to the membership,” said Kelly Snow, president of the Lake Stevens Education Association.
Teachers are scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. today to hear the details of the contract and to vote on it. The Lake Stevens School Board is scheduled to review the contract on Wednesday.
Until the more than 400 teachers in the district are briefed on the contract today, school and union leaders aren’t releasing any details about it.
“I am, of course, absolutely thrilled,” School Board President Mari Taylor said. “Even though this felt like a really tense, difficult time in our district — and it really is — I felt like our bright minds would come together and make it work. But phew!”
Taylor said she didn’t think most parents and students would mind starting school a day later, especially if it helped avoid a strike.
Parents should be receiving an automated call from their children’s schools with information on the new start date, district spokeswoman Arlene Hulten said. Information is also posted on the district’s Web site and its Twitter page.
Teachers in Kent have been on strike since Monday, and school was delayed by a day in Sedro-Woolley while teachers negotiated for a contract.
Lake Stevens teachers went on strike in 1998 and 2003, and some parents feared teachers would return to the picket lines next week.
With the economy down and many people out of work, Tim Posey didn’t believe Lake Stevens teachers would strike. Still, he was relieved that a tentative contract had been reached and his two teenagers could return to Lake Stevens High School.
“I’m overly joyed,” said Posey, president of the Lake Stevens High School’s Purple and Gold Club. “I’m happy that they came to a resolution.”
Teachers in Lake Stevens have been without a contract since Aug. 31. They had been negotiating with district leaders since May, but hadn’t been able to agree on several money-related issues, including pay, class size and planning time.
Union leaders and administrators had a breakthrough Tuesday, in a negotiation session that lasted until midnight. They settled on the details of the contract Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s wonderful to have this accomplished, and for our community to know that teachers and kids will be going back to school on time,” Hulten said.
Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292, kmanry@heraldnet.com.
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