On the day he was ordered by a King County Superior Court judge to return to work and prepare his classroom for students to arrive the next day, Mike Simpers went in to work.

He was the only one to do so at his building.

“It was kind of a lonely day,” he said Tuesday afternoon.

Simpers, a physical education/health/drama teacher at Meeker Middle School, was the only one of his peers to cross the Kent Education Association picket line Tuesday and report for school as ordered by Judge Andrea Darvas.

Handfuls of teachers at schools around the Kent School District joined Simpers in returning to work Tuesday, often having to pass through the picket line made up of co-workers.

According to Becky Hanks, district communications director, 106 teachers returned to work Tuesday and 93 Wednesday . Hanks said the teachers will be paid for those days.

“It was definitely an uncomfortable drive in,” Simpers said, adding that he waved to his colleagues as he pulled into the lot.

The Kent Education Association voted Monday to defy Darvas’ order to return to work the following day. More than 74 percent of teachers in attendance voted to remain on strike, despite the possibility of contempt citations from the judge.

Simpers said his decision to cross the line was two fold. First, Simpers said something did not feel right to him about defying the judge and he wanted to follow the law.

“It was a tough decision, but I just had to trust the judge,” he said. “I put my faith in the justice system.

Simpers said he was starting his second year and Kent and while he often felt more supported by administration at his former district and said that while he believes the teachers’ union has legitimate complaints, he does not feel that either side is laying all of their cards on the table.

“I just wasn’t comfortable with what my union reps were telling me,” he added. “It just didn’t feel right.”

Simpers also said that in the current economy, with so many people out of work, staying away from his job didn’t seem like the right thing to do.

“There’s a lot of people hurting these days,” he said. “It just didn’t feel right being on the picket line when so many people wish they had decent jobs.”

Simpers said he was not a supporter of the strike from the beginning, but joined with his fellow teachers to be a team player, even joining the picket line, though he said his sign read simply “I want to teach.”

And though he said his class sizes are good, Simpers said many of his colleagues are “people with legitimate complaints” and that “both sides are being a little stubborn,” but he personally felt a duty to go in.

“In the end, we’re here to teach and these are our numbers and this is what we’ve got to do,” he said.

Simpers said he bears no ill will or hard feelings toward his colleagues who stayed on the picket and hopes they feel the same, but decided for himself that what was best was for him to start preparing for the school year.

“I don’t answer to (the union),” he said. “I answer to my students first.”