Huber Heights teachers strike, schools closed

Saturday, August 26, 2006 HUBER HEIGHTS, Ohio (AP) — The city school district canceled classes for its 6,800 students Friday after teachers in this Dayton suburb voted to strike and started picketing. District officials said no negotiations were planned with about 500 teachers and support staff who voted Thursday night to reject the school board's latest contract proposal. "The offer that we have right now is the offer that the board stands with," Superintendent William Kirby said. "This offer is the final offer." It called for a 3.5 percent salary increase for each of the next two years, and adjustments that increase some insurance costs, district officials have said. Debra Owens, spokeswoman for the Huber Heights Education Association, said the district rejected a union proposal to delay the strike 10 days and meet with a mediator. The school board would have had to agree not to appeal a strike if mediation failed to resolve the dispute, Kirby said. The district has appealed the union's strike action with the State Employment Labor Relations Board, which has yet to respond. Friday was to be third day of the school year.