Schools

Strongsville Teachers Won't Honor Substitutes' Grades During Strike

Meanwhile, School Board will make 'last best offer' as talks continue Saturday

 

With negotiations continuing in a mediator's office Saturday afternoon, the Strongsville Education Association has issued a statement saying teachers will not honor any grades issued by substitutes during a strike.

The SEA, in a news release, condemned the Board of Education's plan to teach only "meat and potato" classes like math, science, social studies and English during the looming teachers' strike.

Find out what's happening in Strongsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

No grades given by the replacement teachers will count, Christine Canning, SEA spokeswoman, said in a news release.

“We are not going to honor grades issued by unqualified substitutes who don’t know the material they have been randomly assigned to 'teach' and can’t pass the tests and quizzes they will be attempting to grade,” Canning said. “Our students deserve better, and since the Board won’t protect the academic integrity of the district, or the credibility of our students’ grade point averages, the teachers will.”

Find out what's happening in Strongsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

She said the teachers plan to pass a resolution to that effect Sunday evening when the SEA members gather for a strike vote.

Talks Continue Saturday Afternoon

Meanwhile, the last negotiating session before a planned teachers' strike has lasted several hours.

At 1:30 p.m., Ohio Education Association sources said the negotiating teams remain in a mediator's office in Independence, with contract talks continuing. The meeting started at 9 a.m.

All five Strongsville School Board members, who usually don't attend the sessions, are there for this round of talks.

“We hope that we can make progress toward an agreement,” School Board President David Frazee said. “We plan to spend whatever time necessary to obtain an agreement that we can afford.”

Frazee said in a release issued Saturday that the School Board will make its "last best offer" to the teachers' union.

“We will continue to keep the community informed regarding our preparations for a strike, which appears to be likely. And, certainly we will announce good news of a settlement, if we have that to report. ”

Teachers Lament E-Mail Lockout

In a separate statement issued Saturday morning, the SEA complained that even though a strike would not start till Monday, Strongsville teachers were locked out of their e-mail accounts and online grade books Friday afternoon.

Also, teachers were "rushed" out of buildings on their last day, the release says, with buildings locked within 45 minutes of the dismissal bell.

Some were unable to pack up all of their personal items in that time.

“Our teachers have no idea who will be in the classrooms that are actually staffed on Monday,” said SEA spokeswoman Christine Canning. “Based on past reports about Huffmaster, we have every reason to believe that our classrooms are not a safe place to leave all of our personally bought teaching possessions.

Classes that will not be taught during the strike, according to the SEA, include:

Preschool: Art, Music and Physical Education, Adaptive Art, Music and Physical Education, Speech and Language Therapy, English Language Learners, Guidance Counseling and Psychological Services.

Elementary School:  K-6 Art, Music and Physical Education, K-6 Adaptive Art, Adaptive Music and Adaptive Physical Education, Chorus, Speech and Language Therapy, Guidance Counseling, Psychological Services and English Language Learners.

Middle School:  Seventh and Eighth Grade Reading Connections, Seventh and Eighth Grade Family Consumer Sciences, Seventh and Eighth Grade Band and Orchestra, Seventh and Eighth Grade Chorus, Seventh and Eighth Grade Physical Education and Adaptive Physical Education, Seventh and Eighth Grade Art and Adaptive Physical Education, Eighth Grade Health, Seventh Grade Technology Applications, Eighth Grade Computer Science, Speech and Language Therapy, English Language Learners, Guidance Counseling and Psychological Services.

High School:  21St Century Literacy, Transitional To Learning, Academic and Social Advancement Programs, Positive Support for Behavioral Intervention, high school Physical Education classes including Team Games, Adaptive Physical Education at all levels, all high school Music classes:  Freshman Band, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble Honors, Freshman String Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra Honors, String Orchestra, Freshmen Chorus, Women’s Chorale, Concert Choir, Show Choir, Music Theory, all high school Health classes, Family Consumer Science,  Foods for Fitness classes, Environmental Science classes, Biology,  Biology II  and AP Biology classes, Chemistry and AP Chemistry, Physics & AP Physics classes,  Astronomy classes, Anatomy classes, Personal Finance classes, Keyboarding classes, Accounting classes, Drafting classes, Marketing classes, Connections (at risk course for graduation program), English Language Learners, French I-IV, Spanish I-IV, German I-IV (including honors foreign language in all areas), Contemporary World Issues, Practical Law, Psychology, Microeconomics and Macroeconomics,  AP history classes:  U.S. History and European History, Government and Politics, College Survival Skills, AP math courses:  Calculus (AB, BC), Computer Science, Statistics, PSEOP Multivariable Calculus, PSEOP Linear Algebra, Statistics,  AP English courses:  Journalism, English Language & Composition, English Language and Literature, Speech and Communication classes, also high school Guidance Counselors, Speech and Language therapists and Psychological Services.

• If you're not signed up for our newsletters, you're missing out on all the best Strongsville news. Click here to sign up.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Strongsville