AMHERST, Ohio — Back-to-school excitement is buzzing through the hallways at Walter G. Nord School.
Sonja Bobel and Arianna Jara are incoming fourth graders. They chose their desks and unpacked their glue sticks, crayons, and pencils. This year, they did all this without a teacher in the room. Their fourth-grade teacher left instructions on the board while they joined the others outside the school.
Outside an open house in matching shirts, Amherst teachers are making a statement. Soon, they'll be back in their classrooms without a contract.
"I had to explain it to them like three times now; they don't quite get it yet," said Amy Bobel, Sonja's mom.
"They're outside, we still get to meet them, hang out with them, talk to them, so it still helps the kids because they're still getting to know teachers, get rid of the little first-day jitters," said Amber Cockayne, Arianna's mom.
Emily Marty, Amherst Teacher's Association spokesperson, said the contract expired on June 30, 2023. Negotiations stalled back in April, and a federal mediator was put in place. That first meeting was on Aug. 2.
"To my knowledge, having been here 16 years, I don't remember anything like this," said Marty, who teaches social studies at Marion L. Steele High School.
Walter G. Nord Principal Ashley Harigan said teachers are not contracted to work during the open house; being at the school is voluntary. But, on the first day of school on Wednesday, Aug. 23, Harigan said her teachers will be in their classrooms.
"At this point, we're just jonesing to do our jobs and do what we were trained to do. At this point, there's no discussion, or there have not even been talks about a strike vote," said Marty.
Marty continued, "After COVID, Amherst was a district that was in person during COVID and that had its own anxieties. And then, this summer, you know, just knowing that the contract hasn't been finalized has a bit of anxiety, but what it does, it just kind of fuels us to do our best and get even more excited to see the kids to do the jobs that we love doing."
Fifth-grade student Olivia Aliff and her mom, Nicole, met her teachers outside.
"It's not as welcoming in the past; you kind of just walk in and look around, and you see the teachers out here, and it's just totally different, especially for the kids. It's different for us, but for the kids, it's even more different," said Nicole Aliff.
Olivia is excited to get back to school, and she said, "I get to see all these new students, and my brain grows more. And, I want to be a teacher just like them when I grow up, so I've got to get some practice in."
The Amherst Board of Education sent this statement:
The Amherst Board of Education has been working in good faith with representatives of the Amherst Teachers' Association to reach a new labor agreement since February. After reaching an impasse in April, the ATA’s representative suggested that both parties turn to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) for assistance and the Board accepted. A federal mediator was assigned to our contract and an initial mediation session was held on August 2nd.The Amherst Board of Education and the ATA are under the auspices of the federal mediator and he alone determines the meeting dates and the duration of each session. The Board has communicated a wide range of dates for our availability and we will respond to the call of the FMCS mediator when called for a meeting. The Amherst Board of Education is prepared to continue to work in good faith to resolve our differences. However, it is not appropriate to comment further as to the specifics of our disagreement at this time and we will continue to honor the agreed-upon dispute resolution agreement in place with the ATA. That said, statements attributed to the ATA leadership to the effect that the Board is delaying or avoiding any further mediation sessions or that our representatives "walked out" of the last session are simply inaccurate and an effort at misinformation. The ATA is fully aware of the dispute resolution process as described above. The Board is ready and waiting to get back to the table.
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