Day camps welcome Portland students as teacher strike enters a second week

PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW/KTVZ) — On Sunday evening, Portland Public Schools confirmed that there will be no school on Monday, as the district's first-ever teachers strike continues into a new week, KGW reported.

Meanwhile, in Bend, the Bend Education Association is continuing contract talks Monday with Bend-La Pine Schools and plans rallies from 4:15-5:15 p.m. at Pilot Butte and Farewell Bend parks in Bend and Fort Rock Park in Sunriver to provide updates on how the negotiations are going.

Portland teachers are focusing in contract talks that extended through the weekend on higher wages, smaller class sizes and more prep time. To accommodate everything teachers are asking for, Portland Public Schools said it would cost more than $200 million. But district officials say they do not have the budget, and state lawmakers told KGW that it is unlikely more funding will be coming to PPS.

For some Portland students, this November feels more like summer vacation. Day camps are popping up across the metro area, giving students impacted by the strike a place to go. 

“I think a lot of parents were shocked that the strike actually went through, and I think there’s a lot of scrambling going on,” said the director of Electronic Music Club, Erik Carlson.

Carlson runs an after-school program in over a dozen schools, focused on teaching the art of music production. 

But once the teacher strike started last Wednesday,, schools closed and after-school programs were put on hold. 

“People were starting to ask if we had kind of an option for day care,” Carlson said. 

Once he saw the need, Carlson began looking for a new location to host kids for an extended period of time during the strike.

“Thankfully, we’ve had a really great relationship with Unity of Portland, the church that’s up the street," he said. "We’ve done summer camps there before."

Vibe of Portland, an art and music education nonprofit, also stepped in to provide childcare called 'No School Day Camp.'

"Tomorrow, we’ve got a full day of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. art camps for kids that aren’t going to be in school," said Vibe Program Director, Dunja Marcum.

Both Marcum and Carlson say it's important for local organizations to step and support Portland families. 

"There’s such a need for it. I mean, we’re helping out our community," Marcum added. "So many parents have to go to work, and suddenly they’re without child care.” 

“[It] helps provide a sense of continuity for children, while this is kind of an uncertain and strange time for them,” Carlson said.