The Oakland teachers union and the city's school district have reached a tentative agreement for full in-person instruction for the 2021-22 school year, district officials said Monday.
Under the agreement, which needs ratification by the union and approval by the school board, the school year would begin on Aug. 9 following public health guidelines, district officials said in a brief announcement.
A letter announcing the agreement was signed by Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell and Oakland Education Association President Keith Brown.
Oakland Education Association 2nd Vice President Chaz Garcia said the agreement is conditional.
"We did not get into detail about what next year will look like other than saying there's a joint commitment to return to full in-person," Garcia said, but "there's just a caveat of if something's happening with COVID rates in an unfavorable way that could impact us all."
Last week, the district and union announced they were at an impasse over issues related to reopening and had asked the California Public Employment Relations Board to appoint a mediator.
Some Oakland teachers insisted they should be allowed to continue to teach morning Zoom classes from home rather than from their school classrooms, as some school leaders were insisting they do.
"It really did take a mediator to come in," Garcia said, to smooth over friction points in negotiations. Allowing teachers to continue working from home, "that essentially provides a great relief to people juggling with care responsibilities, as well as we have quite a few members who do not have the technology they need on-site."
On Monday, a district spokesman said the issues had been resolved.
In-person instruction in the district expanded Monday for Oakland students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade — and "priority students" in higher grades — whose families had opted in.
The agreement also states that students will return full time in person in fall, though Garcia says details have yet to be negotiated.
— Bay City News and KQED's Raquel Maria Dillon