As of 7 a.m. teachers in Montgomery County's largest school district are on strike.
Union officials for teachers in the North Penn School District resumed contract talks Sunday afternoon but by evening both sides agreed to disagree for now.
“I would like to say to the students and the parents ‘we would like to be in our classroom’ but unfortunately sometimes you have to do what you have to do,” teacher’s union president Alan Malachowski said. “This isn’t about what you want to do.”
District officials announced via their website they made a new offer to the teacher's union. But the union refused.
“It’s unfortunate we didn’t call the strike,” Montgomery County school board president Vince Sherpinsky said. “The union doesn’t want to stop it so we are here to tell you it’s too late to keep school going tomorrow. We are hoping tomorrow we are able to exchange information with the union and hopefully we can resolve this problem shortly.”
The District also requested the union remove the strike notice to allow them to notify employees, parents and students school would be in session on Monday. But that too was denied.
The strike comes at a time where students are preparing for state exams.
“We only have a certain time frame [to study] so whenever we go back, they are just going to cram it in on us,” Lindsey Finn said.
Teachers threatened to strike Monday after the school board’s rejection of a contract proposal stemming from nonbinding arbitration.
Teachers have been without a contract since the beginning of the school year.
A union spokesman says the arbitrators recommended a five-year contract with no salary increase in the first year and raises of 2.5 percent to 2.85 percent in each of the next four years.
The union representing the district’s 1,070 teachers overwhelmingly approved the plan but the school board rejected it Thursday. The district said on its website that the proposal would increase the budget by 17.3 percent.
Officials notified parents of the 12,700 students that all schools would be closed in the event of a strike.
