Strike Averted, School Tomorrow! Tentative Agreement Reached

Around 9 p.m. tonight, the Ellwood City School Board and the Ellwood Area Education Association reached a tentative agreement.

As such, a strike has been avoided, and there will be school tomorrow as normal.

Today’s negotiation, which began at 6 p.m., concluded a series of negotiations since the last contract expired on June 30.

Following today’s agreement, Board Vice President LeRoy Cortez thanked the teachers for their patience.

“We’ve reached an agreement that I believe is fair to both sides,” Cortez said.

The threat of a strike loomed over the district since Wednesday, Oct. 9 when the Education Association announced its intention to strike beginning Tuesday, Oct. 13 if an agreement wasn’t reached.

If tonight’s negotiations hadn’t been concluded in a timely manner, students, parents and teachers would have gone to bed tonight without knowing what would happen tomorrow morning.

A joint statement released by the school district contained the following:

“Focusing on the needs of the students and community, the EAEA and Ellwood City Area School Board are pleased to announce that they have reached a tentative agreement in principal. The parties are going to collectively work on a ratification document that each side is prepared to recommend for approval.

We would like to thank the educational community for being patient during these negotiations and thank the negotiating teams for their time and effort in reaching a tentative agreement. The parties are hopeful that this agreement will allow us to return our focus solely on educating students in the Ellwood City Community.”