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Students back in school after Battle Ground teachers approve new contract

Teachers in the Battle Ground School District passed a ratification vote Sunday on a new contract with 99 percent of teachers voting to approve it.

BATTLE GROUND, Wash. — Students were back in school Monday in the Battle Ground School District.

Teachers passed a ratification vote Sunday on a new contract with 99 percent of teachers voting to approve it.

The district and teachers union reached a tentative agreement Saturday that ended the last teacher strike in southwest Washington.

The agreement was reached after bargaining teams worked with the support of a state mediator into the early morning hours of Saturday, then returned to bargaining a few hours later, the school district said in a news release.

The terms of the agreement were not released.

Kids and parents were feeling good about finally heading back to class.

“Happy to be back I guess. Nice to finally be around everybody and stuff again that I haven't seen all summer,” said Rider Gregg, a senior at Battle Ground High School.

“Finally,” sighed Candice Carlson, who has a daughter attending Captain Strong Primary School. “So excited these kids need to get back to school. But I supported our teachers through it all.”

“I think they're underappreciated. I think they fought hard and won and I'm very happy for them,” said Carlson.

Some said the worst part of the strike was the animosity from community members on social media.

“I think just seeing comments on there, it was very disheartening to see the way people treated each other, the name calling,” said parent, Malia Mihailoff. “We've gotten over the bump. Let’s see if we can now kind of heal, come together and support one another again,” she said.

A Clark County judge had issued an injunction effective on Monday that ordered teachers back to work while they were negotiating their new contracts. Teachers had voted to defy the judge’s orders if the two sides had not come to terms by Monday.

More: Battle Ground teachers vote to defy court order, continue strike

The strike has delayed the start of the school year by 12 days. The first day of school was originally scheduled for Aug. 29.

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