Rainier schools to open Thursday, but Tumwater, Centralia still out

Schools in Rainier will start Thursday after the Rainier School District reached a tentative contract agreement with the Rainier Education Association.

Teachers were meeting Wednesday to vote on the contract.

School was scheduled to start Tuesday. The district was one of many in Washington where contract talks came down to the wire because of recent school funding changes at the state level.

“Our Board of Directors and Superintendent were deeply committed to providing a fair and competitive salary and benefit compensation package to our employees, while also sustaining the long-term fiscal responsibility we have to our community,” Rainier Superintendent Bryon Bahr wrote on the district’s website.

A union representative declined to say what the terms of the agreement were until it was ratified.

Teachers remain on strike in Tumwater and Centralia, and schools there will remain closed Thursday. Negotiations were continuing Wednesday in Tumwater.

Tumwater teachers were picketing at schools on Wednesday, the day school was scheduled to start.

This story was originally published September 5, 2018 at 10:10 AM.