Columbus City Schools, Columbus Education Association will return to bargaining table

The Columbus City Schools Board of Education and Columbus Education Association will return to the bargaining table on Wednesday.

A federal mediator has asked both parties to return to the table, CEA spokesperson Regina Fuentes said.

Columbus City Schools confirmed in an email Wednesday's meeting at the request of the mediator.

“As the Board has stated, they will continue to approach these negotiations committed to a resolution and under the guidance of our federal mediator,” district spokesperson Jacqueline Bryant said in an email. “While we remain focused on starting school with our teachers on August 24, we are prepared for alternate outcomes. As those details are finalized, we’ll share them first with our families and then with the larger community."

News: Leaders of Columbus teachers union vote to issue 10-day notice of intent to strike

On Thursday, the union's legislative assembly unanimously voted to issue a 10-day notice of the union's intent to strike to the district. CEA's nearly 4,500 members include teachers and other support staff.

Columbus teachers' union voted to authorize 10-day strike notice. What is the union asking for?

The notice of intent to strike comes after bargaining sessions between the union and district ended in July, with the district giving its "final offer" and no bargaining sessions originally scheduled for this month.

The union is asking for smaller class sizes; full-time art, music and physical education teachers; functioning heating and cooling systems in schools; giving teachers more planning time; a cap on the number of class periods in the day; and "other working conditions that recruit and retain the best educators for our students."

What we know: Columbus teachers' union votes to authorize 10-day strike notice

The union has until Thursday to file its 10-day notice of its intent to strike with the State Employment Relations Board, and could end up striking as early as Aug. 22, which is the first day teachers return to work in the district. The union's members would meet on Aug. 21 to vote on whether to officially initiate a strike.

Columbus City Schools Board of Education calls special meeting

The last time the district went on strike was 1975.

On Friday afternoon, the Board of Education called a special meeting for Monday night.

News: Columbus teachers union closer to striking, college leaders attend anti-hazing summit

"The Board will immediately "Recess into Executive Session ... to prepare for, conduct, or review negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees concerning their compensation or other terms and conditions of their employment," the district stated in a news release.

Columbus City Schools claims union spread 'misinformation'

On Wednesday, the district announced that it would file an unfair labor practice charge against the union. Adair said at a media conference that the charge was due to the union spreading misconceptions about the district's "final" contract offer.

This included the union's claims that the the current final offer does not ensure updated HVAC systems in each building, does not address smaller class sizes and does not ensure working conditions that recruit and retain the best educators for the students.

News: Amid contract dispute, Columbus schools file labor complaint against teachers union

Board President Jennifer Adair said the final offer addressed all of those issues, which included that high school teachers should teach no more than 150 students a day and included a phased class size reduction in younger grades.

She added that the offer given to the union at the end of July was not the district's "final, final offer."

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus City Schools, teachers union to return to bargaining