The Wapato School District has reached a tentative agreement with the teachers union, which means everyone is headed back to school as scheduled.  According to a statement from the district, the mediated agreement includes a new salary scheduled for educators and support staff.

District leaders are happy to welcome students back to school on time and want to tank parents, staff, and the community as a whole for their support and patience during negotiations. 

The district said it will not share specific details of the contract agreement, aside from the salary schedule change.  It also claims the “focused work and professionalism” of both sides resulted in a successful mediation.  Representatives of the district believe the agreement is “fair, equitable, and sustainable.”

The agreement came after several very tense moments during the negotiations – some as recently as the week before the agreement was reached.

Teachers and parents in the district had expected many of the discussions to be open and to allow for public comment, but that was not the case, including the vote on what to do if teachers were to strike.   Teachers in the district had decided to strike if no agreement was reached before the first day of school. 

In general, the teachers union received a great deal of support from parents and from the community.  Most people understand that despite changes in the state and local budgets, teachers deserved to get most of what they were demanding in the negotiations.  Some even said they would support a teacher strike if it came to that.