Schools
Strongsville High School Students Stage Walkout, Rally
About 75 teens gather on City Commons to ask for an end to the teachers' strike
A group of students made good on a threat to walk out of Strongsville High School at 10 a.m. Friday, marching to the City Commons to hold a short rally.
The students said they weren't taking sides in the ongoing teachers' strike, but simply want it to end.
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"We're not supporting either side," student Jordan Kelley said. "We just want to send a message that they need to get back to the table and negotiate."
An exact number of students who walked out of the high school at 10 a.m. was not available, but it appeared several hundred may have left.
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Many got in their cars, but about 75 gathered together to walk from Lunn Road to the City Commons, where they held a short rally with two speeches from students.
"Business is not as usual in the schools," said student Lou LaQuatra, who added that it is the students who are paying the price of the strike, which is finishing its third week.
About 50 teachers picketing near the high school joined the students' walk, although they trailed behind and, on the Commons, did not join the teens at the gazebo, instead staying on the sidewalk near the street.
Afterward, the students walked down Pearl Road to the School Administration Building, where they held up signs across the street from picketing teachers.
A planned walkout at 11 a.m. at Center Middle School did not appear to materialize.
Meanwhile, members of the Strongsville Education Association were expected to meet with Mayor Tom Perciak at City Hall Friday morning.
Perciak asked both sides to use his office as a neutral zone to resume bargaining.
The negotiating team from the school district said Thursday it would not attend, but SEA President Tracy Linscott some union members would be there to hear what the mayor had to say.
For other stories on the teachers' strike, click here.
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