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Friday, February 25, 2005
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1st-graders go back to school in Deerwood
Staff Writer CROSBY -- First-graders returned to school at Cuyuna Range Elementary School in Deerwood Thursday morning as striking Crosby-Ironton teachers continued to picket outside the school building.
The district's 87 striking teachers showed up in force to meet the handful of replacement teachers brought in by the district at 7 a.m. Thursday morning. Then about an hour later, according to teachers on the picket line, the majority of the picketers left CRES to avoid frightening first-graders or to seem intimidating to their parents as they arrived to school.
Lawrie and CRES Principal Mindy Jezierski greeted the first-graders and their parents as they arrived at school at about 8 a.m. About 15 school buses carrying an estimated 5-15 first-graders on each bus were met by teacher's aides who greeted them with smiles and hugs as the buses arrived.
Lawrie said she wasn't sure how many first-graders came to school Thursday but said they expected roughly half of the 84 first-graders to show up. Lawrie said before deciding if school will resume for other grade levels, district officials wanted to see how it went bringing back the first-grade students.
"We'll see how today goes and we'll go from there," Lawrie said outside the school building. "Our major concern is our children and our families and we don't want the young children to fall behind. I just want to make sure the kids are safe and sound and the parents are comfortable when they drop their children off."
While many children rode the school buses, several children were taken to school by their parents, who escorted them into the building. They were all told to meet in the lunchroom at the start of the school day.
"We have the school all to ourselves," a first-grade boy said with a smile as he walked into the school with a teacher's aide.
Joan Ryan, Ironton, took her 7-year-old grandson, Devon, to school. She said her grandson was excited about returning to school the night before but was in tears in the morning because his teacher, Marilyn Sievek, wasn't going to be there.
"This morning he said, 'I'm on strike,'" said Ryan. "He said, 'If Mrs. Sievek is on strike, then I'm on strike, too.' He's 7 years old. He doesn't understand."
Ryan said she's friends with teachers and members of the school board but believes the two sides need to come together and finally reach a settlement, ending this strike.
"The kids belong in school. When my kids would argue, they would go into a time out," said Ryan. "It's time for the teachers and school board to go into a time out."
In the elementary school parking lot, more than a dozen parked vehicles had "We Support Our Teachers" signs posted in their windshields. Kindergarten teacher Kathy Hachey, who was picketing outside the school, said the cars were owned by teacher's aides and secretaries who were demonstrating their support for the striking teachers.
Hachey said it was an emotional experience for many teachers, particularly for the first-grade teachers on the picket lines, to see their students go to school with replacement teachers.
"It's just so painful to use the little ones at the school," said Hachey. "To me, they're babies, yet to bring them in with scabs ... It's just bad to do that to kids. We should be working on settling and bringing everyone back in. All these teachers want to be back with their students."
Linda Owen, an Education Minnesota employee, said there were no incidents reported between striking teachers and replacement teachers at the school Thursday. Owen said teachers planned to again appear in force at CRES early Friday morning to meet the district's replacement teachers on the picket lines before the majority of striking teachers again head off to their other picket assignments.
JODIE TWEED can be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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