Tentative deal on Portland teacher contract means students will return to school Monday

Leaders of Portland Public Schools and the Portland Association of Teachers finalized a tentative agreement Sunday, allowing 43,000 students to return to school Monday for the first time since Halloween, union and district officials said Sunday afternoon.

A final sticking point – an additional $4 million in raises – was resolved in favor of teachers, school board chair Gary Hollands told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Union leaders agreed that teachers will return to work on Monday, even though the district’s 3,500 unionized educators won’t have a chance to review and vote on the proposed contract by then.

Classes will resume after a two-hour late start. It could be a rough reentry for teachers and students alike, as educators have not had paid planning time since their final minutes at work almost a month ago as they prepared to launch the strike Nov. 1.

“The return is going to be strange,” said Linda White, a math teacher at Sellwood Middle School in Southeast Portland. “I am glad that I pushed us to finish our unit on the 31st so we can start fresh with new material. I think the restart will look a lot like the beginning of school, with group activities and some processing. I am probably not the only one who is a little uneasy about how to jump back in.”