Substitutes Say Good-Bye, Pack Up Their Classrooms in Strongsville

The substitutes who have spent the last two months in Strongsville classrooms while a teachers' strike raged had all left the buildings by Monday afternoon.

"I'm really going to miss the kids," said Mrs. R., who taught home ec at Center Middle School. "I'm going to apply to be on the substitute list here. I'd like to come back."

She and other subs had from 7-10 a.m. Monday to gather their personal belongings from classrooms. The regular teachers, who agreed over the weekend to end their eight-week strike, were allowed back into the buildings Monday afternoon.

"I had some parents and kids come in this morning to say good-bye," Mrs. R. said. "I loved being here."

She will leave notes for the regular teacher about what the kids were studying -- they were learning to read labels on food packages -- and hopes the lesson will continue as planned.

Another sub, who declined to give her name, said she and many others worked 16-hour days as they tried to take over classes without any knowledge of what the kids had been studying.

"There were no lesson plans anywhere," she said. "I spent the first week just trying to find books."

But the substitutes and students worked together to create new bulletin boards, which were stripped bare by teachers before they went on strike, and forged a good relationship, she said. 

"A lot have made me cards, and they have my phone number," she said.

Moving On

Superintendent John Krupinski said he visited five schools Monday morning to say good-bye to the subs and thank them for their work.

"So many fine people from so many different backgrounds came together to help the students of the Strongsville School District," Krupinski said.

He said building principals and support staff also held the district together during the early days of the strike.

The eight-week strike came to an abrupt end over the weekend when the Strongsville Eduction Association, faced with the fact that many teachers would have to make huge COBRA payments by week's end, agreed to a new contract.

Krupinski said he is satisfied with the deal, which awarded teachers the step and column increases they wanted, but slashed their health care coverage to make up for the cost of the raises. 

"I think it's sustaintainable for the future," Krupinski said. "The health care concessions were massive. That will be important to us as health care costs to continue to rise."

And now? Krupinski said he would welcome teachers back to their classrooms Monday afternoon -- classes for kids were canceled for the transition -- and move forward.

"We start a new chapter tomorrow," he said.