NEW — 4:25 p.m. May 13, 2015
Issaquah students will not have class May 19, as district teachers join the statewide protest decrying the lack of legislative action to fully fund basic education.
Issaquah School District Superintendent Ron Thiele announced the one-day walkout in an email May 13, adding that a make-up day will be added to the end of the school year.
Before-school activities are canceled May 19, but after-school activities, including sports, will continue as usual. Schedules for state assessments underway will be adjusted at the school level, Thiele said.
The superintendent added that he could not “endorse” the walkout, and he regretted the “negative impact” to district students and families.
“However, I do share some of the frustration that has led the teachers across the state to take this action,” he said.
Dozens of school districts across the state have joined the one-day walkouts. The protest is directed at state lawmakers, not the Issaquah School District community, both Thiele and the Issaquah Education Association, which represents the teachers, stressed.
“Issaquah educators voted by an overwhelming majority to take this action,” IEA President Doug Jones said in a statement on the group’s website. “The walkout is not directed at our school district, or our community.
“We work in a community that values education and supports teachers, yet we operate in a system where the state has failed its constitutional duty to adequately fund our public schools. This must change. Our students deserve better.”