St. Paul teachers and school district negotiators are back at the bargaining table after a marathon 15-hour session that ended early Monday morning.
The teachers are asking for smaller class sizes and increased mental health staffing, along with a pay increase.
St. Paul Federation of Teachers president Leah VanDassor has some optimism that a deal can be reached before the Monday night deadline.
"I see a path forward," VanDassor told WCCO before negotiations resumed roughly seven hours after adjourning. "We'll have to see how things pan out today."
VanDassor says they'll meet all day if they have to.
"It'll be decided tonight one way or the other," she said. "Until we can't go any further, until we either reach a settlement or have to declare that we have to go on strike."
The school district reportedly wants to have an answer by 6:00 p.m. Monday, so they can inform parents about tomorrow's schedule.
VanDassor says if they are close to agreement, that deadline could be extended for up to three hours.
St. Paul teacher are asking for smaller class sizes and increased mental health staffing, along with a pay increase.
The two sides negotiated much of the weekend, meeting until 9:00 p.m. Saturday, then getting back to it on Sunday, starting at noon and ending at 3:00 a.m. Monday.
"Everybody's working as hard as they can to get this finished up," VanDassor said. "Each time we go back to reword a package proposal, it's taking less time because more and more things are being agreed upon."
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