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Second-graders back in school; fed-up parents schedule meeting CROSBY-IRONTON STRIKE Staff Writer Cuyuna Range Elementary School second-graders returned to school Monday, joining the first-grade students who returned to classes last week, said Scott Kile, chair of the Crosby-Ironton School Board.
Kile said Superintendent Linda Lawrie told him that 95 percent of second-graders returned to classes Monday. Teachers' union leaders dispute that percentage, saying that they heard from sources working inside the school building that 62 out of the 90 second-graders returned to school. Lawrie could not be reached for comment Monday.
Also on Monday, a group of Crosby-Ironton parents, fed up with having their children out of school for nearly three weeks as a result of the C-I teachers' strike, scheduled a community meeting for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Deerwood Auditorium to talk to teachers and school board members about finding ways to settle the strike.
"It's gotta start somewhere," said Gail Gustafson, Merrifield, who has three children enrolled in the district and helped plan the Tuesday community meeting. "I'm tired of nobody doing anything. They need to hear us and if they don't think they're hurting the kids, they're wrong. Both sides need to hear how frustrated the community is."
She and three other parents were talking about the strike at their church Sunday and decided they would take the initiative to call a community meeting. They began notifying board members and union leaders Monday.
However, it's unclear how many, if any, board members and teachers will show up at Tuesday's community meeting. The school board has a previously scheduled 6:30 p.m. Tuesday special closed meeting at the Ironton City Hall to discuss negotiations, said Kile. Education Minnesota Crosby-Ironton, the teachers' union, is hosting their weekly family night rally Tuesday night at Gary's Sports Bar and Grill in Ironton at the same time. Teachers and their supporters planned to listen to speakers that include Matt Entenza, Minnesota House minority leader; Pete Benner, former head of AFSCME; and Rep. Sandra Peterson, DFL-New Hope, District 45A representative and former co-president of Education Minnesota.
Gustafson said they will still plan to host the community meeting, even if the board and teachers have previously scheduled engagements. Kile said he just learned about the community meeting Monday afternoon but wasn't sure if he would attend because of the previously scheduled special board meeting set for the same time. He said he would be open to attending a community meeting.
"If they care enough, they'll send somebody," said Gustafson.
"That's really an unfair statement because there are only a few people who are really versed on what is going on in mediation and we are not to go public with this," said Nagorski in response, referring to the state mediator who told them not to publicly discuss what happened in last week's mediation sessions. "We're willing to negotiate with the school board, but not the community. Ironically, this is our family night. It's unfortunate they didn't attempt to check with us."
Gustafson said she has heard of more than 40 children whose parents have pulled them out of the school district and enrolled them in neighboring districts because of the strike. The district has about 1,300 students. On Friday, Lawrie said she wasn't sure how many students had left the district.
"We want to keep the kids in the district," said Gustafson. "We're frustrated as parents and our children are frustrated. We've had it. We're tired of being held hostage, that's what it feels like."
Gustafson said the public is invited to attend the 6:30 p.m. Tuesday community meeting at the Deerwood Auditorium at 23770 Forest Road in Deerwood.
Kile said he heard that Monday's return to school "was much better today than last week." Kile said after teachers yelled at replacement teachers Thursday as they crossed the picket lines at CRES in a Suburban the teachers nicknamed "the Scab cab" to teach the first graders, the district began busing replacement teachers from the school in school buses along with the first-grade students.
"There were some (replacement) teachers who rode the bus with students to avoid the harassment of picketers," said Kile, of school Monday.
Union president Stan Nagorski said he spoke to teachers and other bystanders who were at the bus garage Thursday when the teachers allegedly used profanity and yelled at replacement teachers who were dropped off to pick up their vehicles and drive home for the day. Nagorski said people told him no profanities were yelled at the replacement teachers.
While Kile said he is hoping for a settlement with striking teachers, he said the district will wait to meet with teachers' union negotiators until the state mediator calls another session. Until then, the district will call back other grade levels when they have enough replacement teachers to teach them.
"Our primary goal is to bring the kids back to school with replacement teachers," said Kile.
"That's kind of a sad, primary goal," said Nagorski, in response. "They're just trying to create an incident. We are trying to remain calm and collected. What they're doing is unbelievable. Sit down at the table and get it done. Stop the pettiness and get it done."
The union reserved time at the Jessie F. Hallett Library in Crosby Monday night. Nagorski said the union's negotiating team waited for one hour but no school board members or school officials attended. He said union negotiators are available to meet with board members anytime.
There are no mediation sessions scheduled between teachers and the board at this time.
JODIE TWEED can be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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