The clock is ticking as negotiators for the San Francisco Unified School District and teachers are returning to the bargaining table Saturday.
Both sides were set to meet Saturday afternoon an attempt to reach an agreement before a planned walkout.
The two sides met on Thursday but were unable to come to agreement.
If a strike were to happen, it would be the first in almost 50 years; now families are making plans.
“The first thought is as a worker you want to show a level of support for teachers firstly,” said Botho, a parent.
Botho says there is a lot to consider and is bracing for a potential strike among educators at San Francisco public schools Monday.
“I will definitely be there on Monday to show my support for the teachers as well but I will also say it is a bit of an inconvenience for me as a parent because I have to make alternative plans,” Botho said.
“As of right now, schools are not open on Monday, that is what we are planning for and if there are any changes to that we will let families know right away but we are ready to go into the bargaining session with our labor partners,” said Laura Dudnick, SFUSD spokesperson.
Bargaining teams for United Educators of San Francisco and San Francisco Unified were sitting down on Saturday, an effort to avoid a looming strike. Dudnick says their proposal is a win-win.
“We really want to work with them to come to an agreement that honors the hard work of our educators as well as keeps the district on the path to fiscal stability we brought a proposal to them on Thursday night, so we are going to be going through the details of that proposal,” Dudnick said.
They have spent almost a year bargaining, but issues remain around raises, healthcare and stabilized staffing among other issues. After bargaining Thursday, a statement from Cassondra Curiel, the UESF president, said in part:
“We are incredibly disappointed in the district’s continued lack of urgency here. All week we have been bombarded with the message that the district was prepared to come to the table and give us a serious proposal – and our members were ready to negotiate…”
“We want to see the adults leading on both sides come to an agreement that work that works for teachers, that works for kids, that works for our schools, we just want to see them get to that agreement as soon as possible so we don’t have to disrupt kids learning,” said Meredith Dodson with the SF Parent Coalition.
If a strike happens, there are plans to provide meals for students, independent study materials and other resources with city and community partners.
This was set to begin at 2 p.m., NBC Bay Area is hoping for an update soon.