The kids are back in school this week, and I've never felt so relieved. That's because the teachers in our school district went on strike last week, and we were all afraid that they would be home so much longer.
The teacher's contract ended last Sunday, which was the day they voted not to accept the school board's contract proposal. That was expected -- the union had filed an intent to strike 10 days before. What it meant in practice was that the teachers began picketing last Monday. School was supposed to start two days later, on Wednesday.
Negotiations continued on Wednesday, and a contract was agreed to in the wee hours of Thursday. School was then scheduled to start on Monday -- yesterday -- after the union officially approved it on Sunday evening.
As it was, the district arranged asynchronous learning -- basically a list of links with a short Zoom meeting -- for the three days they missed being in school. I won't get into the nitty-gritty of the contract, what each side wanted and where compromises were made. Some people were happy with the final result (looks good to me!), and other were not.
But whatever side parents were on, I think we can all agree that we are happy that the kids are back in a school building, meeting new teachers and making new friends. With Covid impacting the last three school years and followed by this strike, I'm also hoping that we can get back to normal for the rest of the year.
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