On Tuesday afternoon, Strongsville Education Association President Tracy Linscott offered to end the strike if negotiations were handed over to an arbitrator.
Had the board accepted the offer, teachers would have gone back to work immediately, and arbitration would have begun over the summer on the contract items still up for debate. The arbitrator’s decisions would have been binding.
The school board declined that offer Tuesday evening. Linscott was dismayed.
LINSCOTT: "I’m a little disappointed. I'm a lot surprised, because, quite frankly, it appears that they want us to stay on strike."
In an email, school board president David Frazee said the board owed it to the voters not to spend taxpayer money to give up control of negotiations to an outside arbitrator. He said the board was obligated to quote “stay the course,” and that its last best offer still stands.
