Educators from Sheridan School District walked off the job instead of into their classrooms early Wednesday morning at five schools, banding together to picket after they say they have waited months for their district and board leaders to begin cooperating again and hammer out a new contract.
“When our schools are under attack what do we do? Stand up, fight back,” close to 20 educators chanted while marching in a circle outside the entrance of Sheridan High School in Englewood and as passing cars honked in support.
The strike follows a day of feverish tensions in the small Denver metro district, where district leaders and school board members who felt threatened by a group of about 40 protesting teachers and community members ahead of a closed board meeting Tuesday evening called Sheridan police.
Law enforcement told demonstrators they would be arrested if they did not move off district property to the sidewalk by the street. Police briefly showed up to Wednesday’s strike outside Sheridan High School to tell protesters, whose demonstration blocked the high school entrance, that they must let traffic through into the parking lot.
Superintendent Gionni Thompson earlier in the day Tuesday announced the district would cancel classes the rest of the week, citing student safety concerns without enough staff to continue operating schools.
Students were not at school Wednesday but teachers were scheduled to work.
The divide between union members and district administration has grown sharper for nearly a year in the district, which serves 924 students including many families living in poverty.
Embittered educators have been working all school year without a contract, repeatedly saying leadership has not made an attempt to come back together to pick up negotiations since they hit a wall last summer. Thompson has insisted the union is at fault, saying union members were uncommunicative over the summer when presented with the district’s final offer for a master agreement.
The previous contract expired July 31.
Union members plan to continue striking through Friday.
They continued chanting throughout the morning in both English and Spanish, at one point crying out, “Hey Gionni, we’re no fools. We won’t let you ruin our schools.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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