Melissa Styger, who is a third grade teacher at Edison Elementary, prepares her classroom for students on Tuesday morning in Centralia.
Melissa Styger, who is a third grade teacher at Edison Elementary, prepares her classroom on Tuesday morning in Centralia for students’ first day of school.
Jim Clinton, who teaches second grade at Edison Elementary, prepares his classroom on Tuesday morning for students’ first day of school in Centralia.
This sign at Centralia High School points students to the office, on Tuesday afternoon in Centralia. Classes in the Centralia School District are set to begin on Wednesday, after Centralia teachers went on strike for a week. The strike officially ended Monday evening after the district and Centralia Education Association reached a tentative agreement.
Centralia students are officially back in school.
After months of negotiations, a one-week teacher strike and a motion for a preliminary injunction, the district and teachers union reached a tentative agreement on Monday evening. The Centralia Education Association ratified that agreement the following morning.
“It wasn’t a meeting, it was a celebration,” said Melissa Styger, who teaches third grade at Edison Elementary. “It felt amazing. It was full of emotion and we all darted out of there back to our schools, ready to work with smiles on our faces, happy hearts. … There were quite a few standing ovations for our board members. It feels really good to be a tiger today.”
Kerri Kite-Pocklington, who is a CEA co-chair, said 100 percent of teachers voted to ratify the agreement.
Both the Washington Education Association and the Centralia School District declined to share a copy of the tentative agreement with the public. Once the Centralia School Board approves the collective bargaining agreement, it becomes public record.
“They’ve agreed on the points, but are still working on the final language,” said Ed Petersen, who is the public relations and communications coordinator for the Centralia School District.
However, Kite-Pocklington shared a page from the agreement that showed the teachers’ salary schedule. The minimum a teacher can now make in the Centralia School District without TRI is $44,000, while the maximum is $90,794.
The strike officially ended when teachers and the district reached a tentative agreement on Monday evening. By 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, Styger and a few teachers were back in the classroom to prepare for the first day of school on Wednesday.
“I think this is the beginning of something wonderful for our district,” Styger said. “I know that teachers are going to want to come to Centralia to work, which benefits our students. And that’s the most important (thing).”
Jim Clinton, who teaches second grade, is entering his 39th year of teaching in Centralia School District. He was also setting up his classroom on Tuesday morning.
“Right now I’m just setting up, getting name tags organized, looking at my class list to determine if I have any new kids and making new name tags and putting name tags on desks,” Clinton said. “Some of the kids had an opportunity to come in at the open house and choose their desks, so I’m just getting those final stages done.”
Although Centralia High School did not hold a freshman orientation this year due to the strike, the district opened its portable village to students and families Tuesday afternoon. Students will be in portables during the remodel of the high school.
“I think they’re still talking about what they can do beyond that for freshmen,” Petersen said. “But obviously this year, we kind of missed the opportunity … for freshmen orientation.”
Jeanine Kiefel, who teaches ninth grade science, was in her classroom greeting students on Tuesday.
“School is going to start tomorrow, which is great news,” Kiefel said. “We’re really happy — I’m excited. Today, campus is open and mostly who I’ve seen is the freshmen coming by. … They’re finding out where their classrooms are, especially with the new construction. It’s a little more confusing.”
Petersen said he doesn’t know yet how the late start date will impact the length of the school year, or how the district will make up the four days students missed.
“We’re still working on that plan,” Petersen said. “There are some ideas rolling around. We’re not ready to talk about yet how we can manage making up the four days without too much impact on the length of the school year or graduation.”
Petersen said those details will come “soon” but he does not expect them to be available at the next board meeting.
Before the tentative agreement is official, the Centralia School Board must approve it. The board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Sept. 26. A work session is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 12, which does not include the collective bargaining agreement on its agenda.
