Dear Hockinson Families:
I am writing to let you know that even though we have made progress over the past couple of days, the Hockinson School District and Hockinson Education Association (HEA) were unable to reach a tentative agreement today. This means that HEA, which represents our teachers, will begin a two-day work stoppage tomorrow, Wednesday, Aug. 29.
Unfortunately, this means the district must cancel school, and there will be no access to school buildings until the work stoppage is over. High School and Middle School athletic practices will continue at regular times and locations.
Although school offices will be closed, the District Office will be open regular hours.
The district and union bargaining teams will continue negotiating Thursday, the next day the state mediator is available. We will let you know as soon as we reach a tentative agreement, or when we determine that the work stoppage will continue.
Hockinson School District deeply respects and cares for its teachers, and our goal remains unchanged: to provide a competitive salary that is affordable and sustainable, both for our school district and for our community. We will work to find agreement as quickly as possible.
We understand that this is a challenging situation for our staff, our students, our families and our community, and we appreciate your patience as we continue collaborating to resolve this issue. I believe I speak for everyone concerned when I say we all want to return to what we do best: providing high-quality instruction to our fantastic Hockinson students.
The district will continue providing updates on its Labor Relations web page and its hotline at 360-448-6401. If you have questions that have not been answered, please email districtcommunication@hocksd.org.
Sincerely,
Sandra Yager, Superintendent