RENTON, Wash. — The Renton Education Association (REA) reached an agreement with the Renton School District late Tuesday to resume in-person learning. Some teachers and students will return to the classroom on Wednesday, March 3, including certain preschool, kindergarten, and special education classes.
The REA had previously claimed the district could not prove proper safety protocols were in place for a safe return. However, on Tuesday, the two sides reached an agreement.
“The school district saw how serious we are about health and safety and it moved them to adopt a higher standard,” said Mary Jo McLaughlin, Renton Education Association president. “The new agreement includes additional mitigation measures that give all of us safer working and learning conditions.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that educators and licensed child care workers are effective for the COVID-19 vaccine, effective immediately.
Inslee toured Lake Elementary School in Bellevue Tuesday morning, calling it “heartening to see in-person learning being done safely.”
Throughout this pandemic learning process, many Washington teachers' unions have been criticized for dragging their feet. Washington state has been among the slowest to return to classrooms, with about one-third of students in some form of in-person learning.