UPDATE: Anoka-Hennepin School District and education leaders reached a tentative contract agreement, averting a possible strike.
The agreement with Anoka-Hennepin Education Minnesota (AHEM) covers the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years.
School will proceed as planned Thursday, Jan. 8, with activities continuing as scheduled. The proposal, reached after a 20-hour mediation session, still needs union membership approval before the School Board’s final decision.
AHEM posted an update confirming the tentative agreement saying “more details to come but we want to say thank you to everyone for your support and solidarity.”
Terms of the agreement are not yet available.
Anoka-Hennepin teachers prepare to strike as negotiations continue into Tuesday night
This comes after teachers with the Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota union were prepared to strike on Thursday if no agreement is reached. Union educators and the district have been negotiating since Tuesday morning, as union members from district schools spent the day preparing to picket.
RELATED: Mediation session scheduled Tuesday as Anoka-Hennepin teacher strike looms
“I know that we’re all nervous, right? No one wants to be in this position,” said Katie Kritzeck Anderson, an English teacher at Coon Rapids High School.
“We never wanted to get to this position. With that being said, we’re ready.”
By Tuesday evening, picket signs were ready for 3,200 educators to strike on Thursday morning after months of negotiations.
“I will fight for my colleagues to just get a livable wage, good health insurance,” said Kritzeck Anderson.
As of September, Anoka-Hennepin Public School District said the union was asking for an 11% package increase, which the union said includes a pay raise and better benefits. The district countered with a 6.58% increase. These numbers have shifted during negotiations, but details are not public under state law.
RELATED: Anoka-Hennepin teachers ‘overwhelmingly’ vote to authorize strike
“It’s very difficult right now,” said Alex Keeney, a teacher at Sunrise Elementary School.
“I think that my wife and I were lucky. We’re only losing $400 a month to health insurance costs, and it’s hard to say we’re a lucky one when we’re losing $5,000 a year. Many other educators are facing much more difficult situations, and that makes it really hard to effectively teach the students that we support.”
District officials had informed families to prepare for district-wide school closures starting Thursday “due to legal and safety reasons.” The strike would also immediately suspend extracurricular activities and athletics, according to the online negotiations update. The district added that alternative child care is not possible.
“And we know that this is difficult for families,” Kenney said.
“It’s difficult for us. We want to be with students, and we hope that a resolution can come quickly to get us into the classroom and keep us in the classroom.”
