Editor’s note: This story was updated at 6:09 a.m. to include information from the Harrisburg School District and its superintendent.
A day after announcing a one-day teacher’s strike in the Harrisburg School District, the Harrisburg Education Association says it will no longer strike on Friday.
The Harrisburg Education Association, which represents teachers in the district, said in a news release issued late Friday that it had reached an agreement with the district that resolve a “major bargaining issue."
The union had announced plans for a one-day strike Tuesday night, citing issues with teacher contract negotiations and ongoing problems within the school district. The teachers have been without a contract for nearly a year.
The teachers union said the district “withdraw its attempt to circumnavigate the collective bargaining process” by withdrawing its request that the state-appointed chief recovery offer include 17 bargainable issues in the district’s amended recovery plan.
The district, in a news release issued shortly after 3 a.m. affirmed that it has agreed to withdraw its requests for prioritized issues to include in the recover plan -- with the understanding that district not control what the chief recovery officer will consider in developing an amended plan.
The state has been under state oversight since 2012, and the recovery plan, which is required by the state, is a checklist to follow to improve the district’s financial stability. An amended recovery plan is in the process of being drafted.
HEA also said the district administration “commits to resolving labor management/contract issues through collective bargaining,” instead of the amendment plan. The district said the union agreed not to strike for the remainder of the school year.
The union also said it will withdraw the unfair labor practice complaint that it filed on Tuesday with the Pennslyvania Labor Relations Board.
And the district said the union agreed that within 21 days of a June 3 meeting with the state Department of Education’s contractor, Public Financial Management, the union will submit a comprehensive, written contract proposal — consistent with the limitations of existing recovery plan, including salary and benefits proposals.
"We are glad that we were able to avoid disrupting the end-of-the-year schedule and activities for our students,” said Jody Barksdale HEA president and middle-school math and science teacher said in the release. “We hope that this shows a mutual commitment to resolving the outstanding issues through good-faith bargaining.
“I am very happy that HEA and the District have been able to come to terms on a framework that will hopefully lead the parties to constructive labor contract negotiations that will address the continual challenges faced by our fiscally strained district," said Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney in the news release. "I am also thrilled that our students and community will not have to bear the brunt of a work stoppage, albeit one day in duration. The district remains committed to working hard to resolve our differences with our valued teaching staff.”
HEA said in the release that they received “extensive feedback” from parents and the community, many of whom supported the teachers and their willingness to stand up for the district.
"While this addresses one of the main issues of the strike,” Barksdale added, “we still have a long way to go towards fixing the district’s chronic teacher turnover. The district needs to address these issues in order to provide our students with the stability in the classroom that they deserve.”
