PARMA, Ohio — Summit Academy School in Parma will be closed Thursday and Friday due to a teacher strike.
Teachers at Summit Academy Parma began striking Tuesday morning, calling for better conditions for themselves and their students.
The strike is over an unfair practice charge against the charter school for their failure to negotiate in good faith, according to a representative for the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
Teachers at the school are seeking improved health and safety conditions, manageable class sizes and caseloads, planning periods, and standards that would allow the school to retain quality teachers, according to a news release from the OFT and Cleveland Alliance for Charters Teachers and Staff.
Teachers plan to strike every day from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. until a deal is reached.
The union voted unanimously to strike on Jan. 31, but scheduled an additional bargaining date with school management on Feb. 15 to try and avert the strike.
The school released this statement on Wednesday:
Union members began their strike yesterday and SAM has no indication that the union members are willing to return to their classrooms without additional financial increases. The school has made diligent efforts to find replacement staff to keep the school open and return to regular class schedules tomorrow, February 21st. Unfortunately, after reviewing several alternative staffing plans with available personnel, and the lack of an adequate number of substitute teachers, we will not be able to appropriately staff the school. Therefore, school will be closed Thursday, February 21st and Friday, February 22nd. We remain hopeful that the strike may be resolved over the next few days. SAM remains open to further discussions with the union, but has no evidence that the union is willing to move forward without financial concessions that would threaten the viability of our school. SAM will continue to keep families updated via our One Call system and updates to our website.
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