Columbus schools prepare for remote learning after teachers union files strike notice
Columbus City Schools announced plans Thursday for remote learning using non-union substitute teachers if the Columbus Education Association follows through on its formal notice to the State Employment Relations Board to strike if it does not reach a new contract agreement before school starts Aug. 24.
If the CEA does set up picket lines, the district will move to “synchronous and asynchronous remote learning” and the district’s buildings will be closed to students and community members, according to information on a district webpage Superintendent Talisa Dixon sent to district families Thursday afternoon.
“The District Administration will send parents and students correspondence regarding the procedures to begin the remote learning program before the first day of school,” according to the district.
Students would be required to attend school through remote learning if there is a strike on the first scheduled day of classes for students on Aug. 24. (Woodcrest Elementary School, the district's only year-round school, returned to classes July 27.)
"The District already has many capable full-time substitutes who will be supplied with the curriculum, which has already been prepared, so that students may smoothly enter into the remote learning experience," according to the district. "In addition to our substitutes, the District’s own administrators and those teachers who choose not to strike may provide remote instruction to their students."
School meals would still be provided in the event of a strike, distributed at designated sites on designated days that will be announced at a later date.
Many sports and extracurricular activities will be rescheduled or canceled since teachers make up almost 60% of the coaching staff and extracurricular advisors, according to the district.
"While I hope that our doors open as planned, I want to ensure everyone is prepared for all possible situations," Dixon said in her note to families.
Filing intent to strike
The teachers' union for the state's largest school district announced Thursday morning it had filed its intent to strike and picket one week after the CEA’s legislative assembly unanimously voted to issue a 10-day notice of the union’s intent to strike. Union members will meet on Aug. 21 to vote on whether to officially initiate a strike. A strike could begin on Aug. 22 if no agreement is reached on a contract.
Columbus City Schools and the CEA returned to the bargaining table Wednesday at the request of federal mediator Joe Trejo of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, but negotiations ended without a contract and both sides expressed disappointment in the other.
“CEA has consistently maintained that we are fighting not just for CEA members, but for our students and community," CEA spokesperson Regina Fuentes said. "That is why CEA will continue that fight until a fair agreement is reached for the schools Columbus students deserve."
CEA 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."
Columbus City Schools Board of Education President Jennifer Adair said Thursday that she was troubled to hear the CEA filed a notice of intent to strike with the state.
“The Board’s offer is comprehensive, fair, and respectful,” Adair said. “It is responsive to specific concerns raised by CEA and includes respectful economic terms.”
Adair said a strike would be disruptive and would hurt the students. The school district will continue preparing for the first day of school as scheduled on Aug. 24, she said.
mhenry@dispatch.com @megankhenry
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus teachers union files intent to strike and picket
