East Palestine teachers give update on contract negotiations

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (WKBN)- East Palestine teachers gave an update on contract negotiations in a press release that was dated on Tuesday.

According to the press release, negotiations lasted for approximately 7 hours on Tuesday. A new contract has not been reached yet.

EPEA spokesperson Carrie Cope released a statement:

“Our team was prepared to continue negotiating, but unfortunately, the Board was not willing to extend the discussions,” Cope said.

The association hopes that an agreement can be reached before the academic year begins on August 26.

“All our teachers require time to get ready for next week’s Open House and the first day of school the following week. Given these pressing needs, we prefer to focus on addressing the needs of our students rather than engage in extended negotiations,” Cope said.

The school board wanted to reconvene on Monday, August 19, but instead they will meet again on Monday, August 26.

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