COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Education Association and Columbus City School Board will meet this week to work on an agreement and avoid a teachers’ strike.

With the first day of school less than two weeks away, the school board and the teachers’ union have less than a week to come to a contract agreement. The board contacted the federal mediator to ask the CEA to take part in two negotiations sessions on Tuesday and Thursday. 

Many parents worry their kids will have to return to remote learning if the board and union can’t come to an agreement. If teachers go on strike, the district said students will start the year remotely with substitutes.

Jasmyne Turner has two kids that attend Berwick Alternative K-8. She said she saw first hand their struggle with online school, but as an alumnus of CCS schools, she said many of the buildings are in the same or worse conditions.

“It is unfair for my students to have to try and learn in an environment that is not safe for them, in an environment where the ceiling could fall down or leaks or for us to ask the teachers to go out of their way and to go into their pockets and to provide the educational tools and the resources that our students need,” said Turner. 

The board said its offer included heating and cooling upgrades to 16 school buildings, benefits for teachers, a 6% wage increase over the next two years and other economic and non-economic items.

The CEA still wants to negotiate on issues such as classroom sizes, full-time art, music and P.E. teachers at the elementary level and safe working conditions.

Anab Mohamed will be a senior at Whetstone High School this year. After enduring remote learning for most of her high school career, she hopes successful negotiations will restore the normalcy she was just feeling again.

“We lost so much time and so much experience in the real world because of COVID, I’d hate for that to happen again,” said Mohamed. “I’m not mad at anybody, I just hope that a negotiation or an agreement could be made soon.” 

Heating and cooling have been an issue among students and teachers for years.

Shaila Ochoa, will be a freshman at Columbus Alternative High School, reportedly one of the several buildings in need of heating and cooling upgrades. She said she feels air conditioning should be a priority that both sides can agree on.

“Honestly, I feel like we need them as much as everyone,” said Ochoa. “I feel like if they really set their mind to it, we could get it in the year.” 

Turner said because of some of the ongoing issues in Columbus City Schools, she’s considered sending her kids to private school. She hopes that the upcoming negotiations will allow for teachers to create a safe and fair learning environment for her kids, so they can grow up a part of their community.

“My kids live in Columbus city, I would like for them to go to Columbus city public schools, so they can be around other people that are also in their community, so we can build together,” said Turner. 

The first day of school is the Wednesday, Aug. 24. 

Editor's Note:  We have removed the video associated with this story, as one of the interview subjects wished to retract their comments for fear of personal safety. Spectrum News decided to honor this request. (August 24, 2022)