The Evergreen Public Schools administrative building in Vancouver on Aug. 22, 2025.
Erik Neumann / OPB
Some students in east Vancouver will have to wait another day to return to class. Evergreen Public Schools canceled classes on Tuesday, Sept. 2 as staff across the district continue to strike.
The Evergreen Chapter of the Public School Employees of Washington SEIU Local 1948 represents around 1,400 classified staff across the district’s 38 elementary, middle and high schools as well as specialty schools.
This is the second delay of the start of the school year since the walkout began. Students were originally slated to return Aug. 26, but that date was pushed back to allow for continued negotiations.
“The Board and I had hoped that delaying school for a week would have allowed the district and the PSE Large Group’s bargaining teams time to reach an agreement without further disruption to families,” Superintendent Christine Moloney wrote in her announcement of the new delayed start.
She also said the union “could opt to work under the previous agreement, which the terms of the contract allow for a full year. However, union leaders have opted to continue their strike.”
The union is demanding increased pay and benefits for staff including paraeducators, bus drivers and custodians.
The two sides have been in negotiations since March and have clashed over proposed pay increases and when to meet to continue bargaining. At a meeting of the Evergreen Public Schools board last week, union chapter president Mindy Troffer-Cooper accused the district of not acting in good faith.
“We have tried to have open communications regarding needs and wants of our members, only to be told you’re uninterested or just given an out-and-out ‘no,’” she said. “This is not bargaining, this is bullying.”
The groups returned to negotiations over the weekend, but did not reach a deal.
As the walkout continues, district officials said they will begin providing free breakfast and lunch for students each school day during the strike.
