Classes resume this morning in the South Butler County School District for the first time since the teachers walked off the job in a contract dispute.
The strike is over, at least temporarily, because state law mandates that students receive 180 days of education.
Some students said they are planning a walkout today to protest the 18 days of school they've missed since the strike began Oct. 23.
School district spokesman Todd O'Shell said the district will discipline any student who participates in the protest.
The union and school district will enter nonbinding arbitration with a state-appointed arbitrator. That process should last about 40 days, said Tom Breth, the district's labor attorney.
If arbitration fails, the teachers are permitted to walk off the job a second time.
Second strikes are usually shorter than first ones, according to Christopher Manlove, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board.
The PLRB works with the state Education Department to determine when strikes must end in order to provide 180 days of school by June 15 (for the first strike) or June 30 (for a second strike).
District officials say the strike was unnecessary because teachers are entering the same period of nonbinding arbitration they turned down before the strike.
"It's a shame that they would put the community through everything they've put them through in the last few weeks, when they had an option that would've avoided all of it," Breth said.
Butch Santicola, who represents the local union through the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said the strike has strengthened the resolve of the teachers.
"What we gained here is the sense of mission by the teachers," he said. "The teachers are very strong in their commitment to achieve equity and settle a contract."
