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Peters Township students return to class

By Suzanne Elliott 3 min read
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Attendance was down at the five area Peters Township schools Friday, the first day of school following a three-week teacher’s strike.

While everyone expressed relief that students were back in the classroom, attendance figures were, as many anticipated, down from a typical school day. Reasons for the decline are twofold: Black Friday coupled with the fact the first day back for the district’s 4,300 students fell on a Friday.

At Peters Township High School, which has an enrollment of 1,451 students; 696, or 48 percent of the school were absent. Peters Township Middle School, which has an enrollment of 698, had 280, or 40 percent of the school absent; McMurray Elementary, 918 enrolled, 386, or 42 percent absent; Bower Hill Elementary, 732 enrolled, 277, or 38 percent absent, and Pleasant Valley Elementary, 376 enrolled, 112, or 30 percent absent.

While the district and its 285 teachers were not able to come to an agreement on a new contract during the work stoppage and now face nonbinding arbitration and the possibility of a second strike in the spring, it appears things were getting back to normal at the district.

This was especially evident at McMurray Elementary, where a dozen buses filled with students rolled up in front of the school in a span of 15 minutes. Many of the students, some dressed in shorts, were greeted outside the door by Jeannine French, the school superintendent, and Michael Fisher, assistant to the superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment.

“Welcome back,” French said to the incoming students. “Have trouble waking up?”

“We have to get our kid fix,” Fisher said.

Allison Wilding of Venetia had just dropped off her twins, Ethan and Brooke, fourth-graders at McMurray Elementary.

“They’re both happy to be back,” she said.

As of now, the last day of school in the district is still scheduled for Wednesday, June 15. Graduation will take place Friday, June 10.

The new calendar issued by the district shows the next day off for students will be Christmas day, which falls on a Friday. Students are also off New Year’s Day and are scheduled to have a half day Friday, Feb. 12 and Friday, April 15. The last full day off, according to the calendar, is Memorial Day, Monday, May 30.

It is still not clear when the nonbinding arbitration process between the district and the Peters Township Federation of Teachers will begin. This follows more than 20 negotiating sessions between the two sides since January. The teachers, who have been working without a contract since Aug. 31, walked off their jobs Oct. 28.

The arbitration process requires both parties to provide their final best contract offer with supporting documentation to a panel of three arbitrators. This must be done within 10 days of the panel selection.

Overall, the entire process could take 60 days to complete. Teachers are not allowed to strike during arbitration.

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