District says they're prepared if strike continues into next week

Medford, Ore. — With the Medford teachers strike underway school is cancelled Friday and Monday. But Julie Evans, Director of Elementary Education for Medford School District, said they’ve been working around the clock to make sure schools are up and running on Tuesday if both sides don’t reach an agreement this weekend.

“That’s the districts number one goal, so the moment that announcement was made we started planning,” Evans said.

If the strike continues into next week schools will be consolidated. Evans said they’re finalizing new bus routes for students who will be attending a different school and lining up substitutes. She wasn’t sure how many subs they’ve lined up but believes they could move forward at this point with the ones they have. They also have security lined up for the substitutes.

“We’re taking it very serious that our substitutes are doing our community a favor and we’re going to take care of them,” Evans said.

She also said principals have been working with support staff to gather necessary teaching materials for Tuesday.

“We knew we had an obligation to our community and to our students to make sure that instruction could continue to happen and that our students could be educated,” Evans said.