Teachers in Methacton School District on strike; classes cancelled

EAGLEVILLE, Pa. (WPVI) --It is just a few weeks into the new school year, and now students and teachers in the Methacton School District will be off again for an unknown amount of time.

Teachers are expected to officially go on strike at 7:30 a.m. Monday. They have been working without a contract since January.

A stalemate in the bargaining process lead to an announcement Friday by the Methacton Education Association that its members had authorized a strike.

The union represents over 400 teachers and professional staff.

The issues being negotiated include salary, benefits, class size, teacher-student ratio and team teaching.

Methacton Schools: No deal reached; Teachers will strike. Walter Perez reports during Action News at 11 p.m. on September 17, 2017.

Over the weekend, school board president Chris Boardman reassured parents and teachers that negotiations had been productive.

But shortly after that, the union released a statement, saying in part, "...dramatically increasing the employee's share of the health care premium while not adequately increasing salaries is unacceptable..."

A state mediator is now involved to coordinate the exchange of proposals between parties.

Picket lines were expected to be established at locations including Methacton High School.

According to the school district, State Department of Education rules will prevent the work stoppage from going past 15 days.

Source: 6ABC