Bus drivers, paraeducators and other classified workers on strike flooded Evergreen Public Schools’ board meeting Tuesday to advocate for higher wages as the board voted to adopt the district’s 2025-26 budget.

“A budget is not just numbers on a page. It is a moral document,” said Heather Christianson, state president of Public School Employees of Washington/SEIU Local 1948.

The union’s contract with the district expires Saturday.

Classified staff wearing blue and teachers in red filled every seat in the boardroom at the district headquarters in east Vancouver with the crowd overflowing into the hallway.

The district’s general fund budget of $467.7 million for 2025-26 makes cuts in areas furthest from the classroom, primarily through elimination of administrative positions, Chief Fi

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