Park County:
District says schools will be closed to students Monday
Teachers plan to strike Monday after failed negotiations.
School teachers in South Park late Sunday were preparing to strike over pay and the lack of a contract that gives them a greater voice in decision-making.
Park County School District president Kim Bungaard issued a statement late Sunday night saying school will be closed for students Monday. Superintendent Joe Torrez was notifying parents.
“No buses will run and all athletics and extra-curricular activities have been canceled. Other school operations for staff will remain operational as a regular workday,” Bungaard’s statement said.
“Because the district respects and values the rights of all staff to work in a safe and secure environment while others are exercising their right to strike, local law enforcement will be present to ensure that environment.”
This latest teacher strike — Colorado has seen three over the last 18 months — affects about 600 students who attend three schools in the inter-mountain South Park basin southwest of Denver. All the schools are located together in the middle of Fairplay. About 42 teachers and 80 staffers work in the district.
Teachers said they planned to parade around the schools and district administrative offices with signs starting Monday morning.
“The heart of Fairplay is the schools. And we are going to be very visible. If you have a strike in Denver, schools are spread out. Everybody in Fairplay is going to know we’re on strike,” said fourth-grade teacher Doug Freeman, a member of a mediation team that has been negotiating with district officials since February 2018.
“Teachers need a livable wage. Teachers come up here, and look for housing and things, and they cannot justify living up here on this amount of money,” Freeman said.
The teachers’ contract expired in June, and union members voted to authorize a strike in September, though they initially held off on setting a date.
The district approved a $2,000 raise for teachers in May, but the union is seeking an additional $4,000 and wants support staff to also get a combined $6,000 increase. The district’s salary schedule shows starting teachers will earn $33,000 after the May raise, with a maximum teaching salary of about $67,000. Paraprofessionals can earn anywhere from $16,000 to $36,000, depending on their education and experience.
District officials have insisted they lack funds to pay teachers more. Teachers have been asking for more information on the
A 7,326-acre wildfire sparked by lightning in the Sang re de Cristo Wildernessmore than a month ago flared up Sunday, spreading despite freezing night temperatures, forcing new evacuations near towns along the Arkansas River and emitting smoky particulate plumes that raised health concerns.
Federal fire managers had to withdraw 755 firefighters from efforts to suppress the Decker fire, which expanded Sunday in the area south of Salida, U.S. Forest Service fire information officer Penny Bertram said.
“The firefighters have pulled back. We have an air tanker on request” to drop retardant on the fire, Bertramsaid.
“It moved really fast. We had to pull the firefighters out. That was right about noon. They were working to hold the lines.”
Air quality specialists deployed to Salida and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued an air quality advisory due to heavy wildfire smoke wafting over southeastern Chaffee and northwestern Fremont counties in the area between Salida and Cotopaxi. Health officials advised residents who see thick smoke to stay indoors.
Colorado mountain residents as far north as Fairplay in South Park and south of Poncha Springs in Saguache County reported impacts from smoke.
Temperatures dropping to 32 degrees at night typically help squelch wildfires. Colorado’s “fire season” traditionally has not extended into October, though in recent years wildfires have burned as late as November.
The National Weather Service warned of gusty conditions that favor rapid ignition, growth and spread of wildfire. Douglas fir trees at higher elevations and pinon-and-juniper forests toward the river have proved highly flammable.
“Those fuels remain really dry, even though it is cold at night, and the fire is still growing due to a lack of moisture, low humidity and the wind,” Bertram said. “That creates some really extreme fire behavior.”
Around noon, flames jumped the Rainbow Trail that runs along the Sangre de Cristo mountains — just as firefighting crews were clearing lines to try to contain the fire. Flames were spreading northeast toward Howard.
Fremont and Chaffee county authorities around 2:17 p.m. ordered about 50 buildings evacuated near Bear Creek Silverheels, Wellsville and Swissvale, following previous evacuations in the Methodist Mountain area closer to Salida.
The authorities on Sunday warned other residents to be ready to evacuate near Howard. Fire had spread to forests about 7 miles from town, officials said.
The Decker fire started around Sept. 8 with a lightning strike in the wilderness. Initially, fire managers tracking this blaze said that, because the fire was relatively small and burning in wilderness, about 50 firefighters would monitor it but that they were allowing it to burn to try to take advantage of ecological benefits for ailing, insectravaged forests.
“We’re not going to be suppressing it,” an incident command spokesman said in September. “Out here in the West, fire is part of the eco-cycle, always has been part of it. Lightning caused this fire. We’re trying to let it do some good, burn off some beetle kill.”
But on Sunday, forest service officials said the Decker fire “was always a suppression fire” and that rough terrain in the wilderness initially had prevented firefighters from attacking it in the early stages.
The Decker fire likely has burned across an area wider than 7,326 acres, to be determined once another aerial survey is done, officials said Sunday afternoon.
Heavy smoke from wildfires can increase the likelihood of respiratory trouble for sensitive people and worsen heart and lung problems. Health officials said people with heart and lung disease, the elderly and children should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion.
“It moved really fast. We had to pull the firefighters out. That was right about noon. They were working to hold the lines.” U.S. Forest Service fire information officer Penny Bertram