MINNEAPOLIS — Throughout the Minneapolis teachers strike, parents of various backgrounds have shared how emotionally and financially draining life has become. As many point out, the cancelation of 14 school days came as families were still coping with the pandemic; the switching between distance learning and classrooms.
"It definitely felt like trauma on top of trauma," said Frannie Dassier, whose daughter is in first grade. "I feel that some of the decisions have retraumatized my beautiful girl."
Dassier's daughter spent the beginning of the strike at home but this week started coming to the Nokomis Community Center. It's one of 10 hubs where the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board extended hours to provide kids with free activities from noon to 9 p.m. each weekday of the strike.
"This has been a lifesaver for us so thank you, thank you Park Board," fellow parent Nicole said.
"The strike has been hard on my sister a lot," Nicole's daughter, Sabrina, added.
While grateful for the programming, the families said they're ready to get back to school. That could happen Monday. At around 4 a.m. Friday, Minneapolis Public Schools announced a tentative deal was reached with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. Union members plan to vote this weekend.
"It was just relief because it's been hard," Nicole said, "and just hope that things will get better and it won't have to get to this point again."
"My daughter woke up at like six in the morning and she said, 'Mom, I need more than just one, two people to love me,'" Dassier added. "She was like, 'I need more than you and daddy.'"
Habiba Ibrahim, an assistant professor at St. Catherine's Social Work Department, says it's all been especially hard on English Language Learners and families with lower income.
"Students have faced a lot of learning loss a lot of regress over the last two years when they were doing the remote learning, and then three weeks of no learning at all. Yes, it does come with regress," Ibrahim said.
To help families cope, she encourages parents to initiate age-appropriate conversations with their kids about the strike.
"To help them understand the issue of why they've been out of school," Ibrahim said. "But also meeting them where they are. Validating their feelings that it's OK for them to feel the way they are."
She also suggests asking kids what would best serve them this weekend, whether it's doing something as a family or spending time apart.
"Maybe prepare themselves and get their stuff together for school," she said. "It's important to prepare them mentally."
Although the deal between the union and school district isn't finalized, there was a sign at the check-in table at the community center Friday saying "last day" along with a poster for everyone to sign.
At the Jerry Gamble Boys & Girls Club in North Minneapolis, news of an agreement also came as welcome news to many students and families. Josiah Stephens, a seventh-grader at Anwatin Middle School, said "he was ready to get back on track at school."
Brittany Pinales, a Boys & Girls Club branch director, expects an adjustment period.
"It's going to take probably a couple of days to get back in tune with, 'what does school look like, what are we doing here, what are the rules again?'" she said. "Due to COVID, there was a big learning loss. So, I'm excited for our kids to come back."