Monday, April 22, 2013
District says proposal was 'unreasonable'
The Strongsville Education Association issued a one-time contract offer at a negotiating session Sunday that called for adding a half-hour of instruction to each student's school day. The proposal also included minor financial concessions and a "no reprisal" clause to protect teachers, students and parents from discipline for their actions during and before the strike. Click here to see the one-time offer. "The parents of Strongsville need to read the SEA proposal and demand that the Board explain why they would reject a settlement that would immediately end the strike while also adding an extra half hour of learning to each day of a child’s life from kindergarten through 12th grade,” SEA spokeswoman Christine Canning said in a news …
Sunday, April 21, 2013
School Board is prepared to finish year with substitutes in classrooms
It looks like Strongsville teachers will be back on the picket lines Monday after negotiating teams failed to reach an agreement Sunday that would end the seven-week-old strike. The two sides met for nearly eight hours before emerging without a deal. School Board President David Frazee said the Strongsville Education Association "continues to insist on unreasonable economic and contract language terms.” "Based on the continuing unreasonableness of SEA, the mediation session ended without progress,” Frazee said. “The SEA won’t take meaningful steps to end their strike. He added that there are only 32 days left in the school year. "While it is not ideal, if forced to finish the year with substitute teachers, we will," he said in a news …
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Also, School Board explains why $3.2 million windfall wasn't expected
Both sides in the Strongsville teachers strike are expected to meet at a federal mediator's office in Independence Sunday for another round of negotiations. The session starts at 2 p.m., and Strongsville Education President Tracy Linscott on Friday called on the two sides to stay in talks until there is a settlement in the strike, which is entering its eighth week. Her statement came the morning after a tension-filled School Board meeting at which 17 of 20 people allowed to speak supported the Board of Education or chastised the SEA, which represents the striking teachers. The meeting was filled with applause, boos, yelling and accusations that Board President David Frazee had "stacked the deck" and called only supporters to the …
Monday, April 15, 2013
Negotiations last until 3 a.m. with no deal reached
The Strongsville Education Association says a $3.2 million windfall the school district has received should be used to end the teachers' strike. "Yesterday the Board finally admitted what the SEA has known for the last six months," the SEA said in a news release. "They have $3.2 million more than they have claimed." The School Board announced on Sunday that unanticipated tax revenue this year will total about $3.2 million. The board said it only learned about the extra money last week and plans to use it to cut the general education and pay-to-play fees. The SEA disagrees, instead indicating that the windfall -- combined with an estimated $1.6 million in savings on teachers' salaries since the strike began -- means the district can …
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Board looks at lowering pay-to-participate and general education fee -- not raises for employees
The Strongsville School District has received an unexpected $3.2 million in tax money, and will use it to offset costs for families, including possibly reducing pay-to-participate fees and the general education fee. The announcement came Sunday evening as negotiating teams for the school district and the Strongsville Education Association met for contract talks. A news release from the school district makes no mention of using any of the extra money on raises for teachers, who are entering the seventh week of a strike. Instead, it says the School Board will help meet the needs of students, parents and the district. "As we look into the future, these funds will allow us to stretch out the number of years that we will be able to keep our …
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Another bargaining session called by federal mediator
Another negotiating session between the Strongsville Board of Education and striking Strongsville teachers is set for 1:30 p.m. Sunday, April 14 at a federal mediator's office in Independence. Tracy Linscott, president of the Strongsville Education Association, announced the newly scheduled session during a union rally Friday evening. It will be the first bargaining session in nearly a week. The two sides met for 40 hours over four days -- April 3, 4, 5 and 8 -- and emerged to say no progress had been made. The teachers have been on strike for six weeks. Since the last bargaining session, the School Board has asked the union membership to take another vote on the district's last best offer. The SEA is calling on individual School Board …
Friday, April 5, 2013
Negotiating teams set to meet again Monday morning
Negotiating teams for the Strongsville Schools and Strongsville Education Association have met for more than 31 hours over three days this week, but it looks like teachers will be back on the picket lines on Monday. A nine-hour bargaining session ended Friday with no settlement. Neither side is discussing what's happening in the negotiating sessions. Another negotiating session is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday at a federal mediator's office in Independence. Recent Stories: Still No End to Strongsville Teachers Strike Protests Continue at School Board Members' Homes No Deal Yet in Teachers Strike; Talks Continue Thursday How Much is Teachers' Strike Costing Police Department? Union Says Strongsville Teachers' Salaries Aren't Out of Line …
Another negotiating session set for Friday
Another late night of negotiations, another day of striking teachers in Strongsville. A seven-hour bargaining session Thursday evening again failed to produce a contract agreement that would end the month-old teachers' strike here. School Board President David Frazee said he attended part of the session and said the two sides are talking. "I was pleased to see that there has been a significant amount of what appeared to be meaningful discussions taking place," Frazee said. More talks are scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday. Thursday's meeting was the second this week -- and the fourth since the strike started March 4 -- between Strongsville school leaders and the Strongsville Education Association, which represents 383 teachers and other …
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Two sides talk till 11:30 p.m. Wednesday
A negotiating session that lasted more than 14 hours on Wednesday ended with no deal reached in the ongoing Strongsville teachers strike, but talks are expected to continue on Thursday. Negotiating teams from the Strongsville Schools and the Strongsville Education Association, which represents the 383 striking employees, met from 9:30 a.m. to after 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Talks are expected to pick up again Thursday. It was the third negotiating session with a federal mediator since a teachers' strike began in Strongsville March 4. The first was on March 17; the second was an 11-hour session March 26 that ended with no movement toward a settlement. The teachers' union on Tuesday, April 2 submitted a new proposal to the Board of …
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
No further talks have been scheduled in Strongsville teachers' strike
Negotiating teams from the Strongsville teachers' union and the Strongsville School Board met for 11 hours Tuesday, but report no progress toward a settlement in the ongoing strike. A statement released by School Board President David Frazee said the two sides met face-to-face in a federal mediator's office in Independence, "and no progress has been made." SEA President Tracy Linscott echoed that statement, saying the talks ended abruptly when the board refused to budge on its last offer, which it presented March 2. "We met for 11 hours, and after 10 hours and 50 minutes, the board's attorney said they're not moving off their last best offer," Linscott said. "So that's it. We're right back where we were." It was the second time since …
what is a fork?
10:28 pm on Tuesday, April 23, 2013
You can NOT replace the Teachers. I think we should give them what they are asking for and more!! THey are highly qualified we can never find that again. They are needed to teach our kids. I have seen with my own eyes.. Tracy and other teachers walking on water!! I've seen it. Seen it. Well it might of been puddles on the sidewalk.. REPLACE THEM ALL THE SEA IS NOTHING BUT SCUM. more ›