Classified staff with Evergreen Public Schools picket outside district headquarters on Sept. 2, 2025.
Erik Neumann / OPB
The board of Vancouver’s Evergreen Public Schools voted Friday afternoon to take legal action if needed to compel striking staff to return to classes.
A union representing classified staff has been on strike since Aug. 26 over better pay and working conditions.
“This is a last resort action,” said Board President Jacqueline Weatherspoon during a special board meeting Friday. “Our goal is to get students back in school, get the school year going so that we can move forward together as a district. It doesn’t mean that we stop negotiating.”
Weatherspoon said the board has asked the district to continue contract negotiations with the Evergreen Public School Employees union.
Throughout the two-week long strike, the district has said that the union’s contract allows staff to return to work under their current terms while continuing to negotiate for a year after their previous contract expired.
The board’s resolution authorizes the district’s legal council to “take all lawful steps necessary to terminate the strike, including injunctive relief, monetary damages, or other appropriate remedies.”
“I know it’s not going to be popular, however, from the distance of where the two sides are at, it seems like the only option,” board member Gary Wilson said.
The resolution does not specify a date when it expects staff to return to school.
The union, however, said it remains on strike. In a response Friday afternoon, union leaders dismissed the legal threats and said they would be back at the bargaining table Saturday.
“Legal maneuvers won’t build stronger schools, bargaining in good faith will,” Evergreen PSE Chapter President Mindy Troffer-Cooper said in a statement. “We urge the District to stop wasting time on threats and start addressing the core issues that keep Evergreen students from having the stable, supportive schools they deserve.”
Staff at Evergreen Public Schools have been on strike for two weeks. They’re seeking pay increases over a three-year contract for support staff — including paraeducators, maintenance staff and bus drivers. The union represents approximately 1,400 members in the East Vancouver school district.
The Evergreen union rejected what the district said was its “final offer” on Thursday night. So far, the district says it has proposed pay increases ranging from 9%-12.5% over the course of the staff’s three-year contract, depending on position. The union has been seeking pay increases ranging from 9.5% for mechanics to 15% for paraeducators across their contract.
The Evergreen Public School district is facing a $26 million shortfall over the next three years. In statements, the district has said that the union’s contract allows them to return to work under their current terms while continuing to negotiate for a year after their previous contract expired.
Teachers in the La Center School District also went on strike Wednesday over disagreements about cost-of-living adjustments. The strike started several days after the district initially went back to school.
The district has said state-funded cost of living adjustments don’t cover all of its employees and it’s trying to maintain a reserve to buffer against future budget shortfalls.
The La Center School District and teachers union remain in negotiations this weekend.
Classified staff with Vancouver Public Schools could be a third group to go on strike in the coming weeks. The Vancouver Association of Educational Support Professionals will vote on whether to authorize a strike on Sept. 11, if it’s unable to reach a contract agreement with the district before then.
The two sides remain divided on a range of provisions including pay, layoff protections, and training. The exact start date of a strike would be determined by the union’s bargaining team, it said in a statement on Friday.
La Center and Evergreen Public Schools are providing updates to parents online about the status of negotiations before Monday.
