Proviso District 209 teachers' strike to continue at least through Thursday
FOREST PARK, Ill. (CBS)-- Proviso District 209 schools will be out at least through Thursday amid a continuing teachers' strike.
Teachers in the district have been on strike since Friday, March 4 – a total of six school days.
The strike affects 280 teachers at Proviso Math and Science Academy in Forest Park, Proviso East High School in Maywood, and Proviso West High School in Hillside.
"Despite more than 20 formal negotiation sessions and many more hours of informal dialogue between Proviso District 209 and the Proviso Teachers Union throughout the weekend and today, it has become apparent that our differences have become increasingly difficult to settle," the district said.
There is still a gap of $1 million between the district's salary proposal and that of the union, the district said.
The district said it proposed a one-week "cooling off" period during which teachers and students would return to school while negotiations continued with a federal mediator. The union rejected the idea, the district said.
"We are disappointed that the union refused to consider this option, even knowing that a continued strike will only further disadvantage our students after almost two years of learning loss due to the COVID-19 global pandemic," the district said.
As a result, classes will be canceled again on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week.
The next session between Proviso District 209 and the union will be Thursday – though informal negotiations and conversations between parties will be held before that.
The strike was also to be the topic of discussion at Tuesday night's board of education meeting.
"We are becoming increasingly concerned that, with Spring Break next week our students will have been out of school and without classroom instruction for over three weeks," the district said. "If we don't reach agreement on Thursday, it is our hope and expectation that PTU will agree to schedule additional negotiations throughout Spring Break."
