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It's over – finally.
Tacoma teachers and school district officials reached an agreement Thursday night that appears to have ended a week-long strike, paving the way for the opening of schools across the city on Monday. .
"We have an agreement in principle," said Angel Morton, president of the Tacoma Education Association.
Morton said union members will vote Friday at 11 am on Mt. Tahoma High School, the same place they voted last week to go on strike.
The terms of the agreement were not available Thursday night, on the basis of an agreement between the two parties.
"We have an agreement in principle," said school district spokesman Dan Voelpel. "We could not announce it first. TEA wanted to make sure its members knew first. Our board of directors is also planning a meeting to approve the contract. We are confident that this will happen and that the school will resume Monday in the usual time. "
As schools stay closed on Friday, the district will keep its 12 regional buildings open throughout the district to serve breakfast and lunch to students in need, Voelpel said.
Although the settlement is not official, the deal seems to end weeks of public acrimony and private negotiations. The district was confident enough to announce the reopening of the school online on September 17th.
Teachers fought for higher wages than those in the surrounding districts. They were not satisfied with an offer submitted Wednesday by the district. According to reports, union negotiators made a counter-offer to district chiefs on Wednesday night. The details of this proposal and the district's response were unclear on Friday, and the negotiations are not open to the public.
On Wednesday, the district announced that district buildings would open for employees who wanted to return to work, including teachers, noting that teachers who reported working before the school officially starts would receive an extra salary.
Union leaders denounced the move as a tactic of disruption and urged members not to cross the picket line.
The apparent settlement ends the prospect of lawsuits against striking teachers in the Superior Court of Pierce County. It also means that there will probably be no investigative hearing before the Public Relations Commission for Employment. This prospect was proposed Friday by school district officials and was scheduled for Monday.
Whatever the conditions of the agreement, the state law states that the school year must last 180 days, which means that the school year will end a little later than the last day of June 18th.
Sean Robinson: 253-597-8486 @seanrobinsonTNT
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