Overview
- Union members voted to approve a contract with Sheridan School District, clearing a key step toward ending the walkout once the school board ratifies the deal.
- The union says the agreement restores a teachers contract through December 2026, creates a path to recognize non-teaching staff like bus drivers and paraprofessionals, and rolls back policies it called retaliatory.
- The breakthrough followed a full day of talks at the State Capitol led by Gov. Jared Polis after weeks of stalled bargaining and what outlets described as Colorado’s longest teachers strike in decades.
- Tensions rose this week after a district email warned of health benefit changes starting May 1, with officials saying they had paid about $30,000 in unbudgeted premiums, then later clarifying they did not intend to cut employees off from care.
- The dispute disrupted a small, high-poverty district of roughly 900 students that closed schools early in the strike, saw low attendance later, and faced mounting pressure including talk of a school board recall and possible district consolidation.