A Strike, A Bargain, and The Aftermath

     I can't say how the aftermath of the Reynolds School Districts teachers' strike will affect the rest of the school year but I should hope that the backlash of having had a full week off school is less disastrous than coming back from a spring break or winter vacation. For planned weeks off such as spring break most students have an ample amount of homework to try and keep as much knowledge from slipping as way as can be hoped for. However, in the case of this strike many teachers had different views and approaches to the looming strike.
     Some teachers gave homework assuming students would be back within a day, others gave no homework assuming all would be well and settled soon enough, while still others treated it like the end of the school year, (which it very well could have been in hindsight seeing how long things lasted). The result? The scattered approaches, mixed with 20 minute class periods on the last Friday to make time for a "Raider Rumble" carnival type event left a feeling of the last day of school and the possibility of no school for a while looming. Many students instead of cheering for what looked to be an early summer sat and watched updates daily to know if they would be returning to school any time soon, fretting over grades yet to be resolved  because of grades never entered. In an effort to keep families informed the school district set up a strike information hotline where parents (and students) could call for the latest update on school closures.
     After negotiating for for 21 straight hours on Sunday, the day before the strike was set to begin, a settlement still could not be reached and the teachers of the Reynolds School District took to the pickets lines at 6am Monday May 21. Both sides continued to work through issues to return to school and work as quickly as possible, however, a full week passed before any sort of agreement could be reached. Throughout the week both sides pushed the facts to show their side in the best light. Whether this helped, hindered or did nothing for either side is not obvious, but that's politics for you, eh?
     With a tentative settlement finaly reached students of Reynolds High School are set to to resume classes on Tuesday May 29. The question is: when students return, what will they be coming back to? Unless changes are made the school year is set to end June 13, just 2 weeks after students return. With a week lost and the end of the school year nearing how will lesson plans be adjusted to make up for the the missing class time? Will finals still happen as scheduled? What is the best way to make up for lost time without leaving students confused on curriculum with no time to actually learn the information being thrown at them? Questions, questions and more questions remain.
     The strike has be a hardship on all parties involved. From teachers, to parents, to the school board to even students, this strike has caused quite a stir. Unlike Barlow and Parkrose, the strike lasted a good while. Now that the initial issues are solved it's time to face the aftermath and see what these last two weeks of school really will be.