Negotiations in the four-day old Reynoldsburg teacher's strike are scheduled to resume this week-end. Both the board and teacher union representatives have agreed to meet again with a federal mediator on Sunday to try to reach a contract agreement. The resumption of talks occurs against the backdrop of strong community pressure. Classroom Learning Shortly after noon Danielle Tolkendorf greets her kindergartener getting off the school bus. Tolkendorf has three children in the Reynoldsburg City Schools. She wants the strike to end. "There is an incredible absence of learning in the schools currently. I've actually been doing lesson plans at home and we've been going on our little field trips to kind of cover what they're not getting at school," says Tolkendorf. Tolkendorf's children are in kindergarten, first and second grades. She says she tries to be positive when talking to her children about what's going on in the classroom. "My kindergartener was actually deeply disturbed on Friday," says Tolkendorf, "because the substitute was attempting to teach her to count to two and she said 'no mommy' my teacher doesn't teach to count to two (she) teaches us to count to 100." Online Learning The district has kept schools operating. It hired substitutes to replace striking teachers and extra security for school buildings. Board president Andrew Swope says the district also bought 516 computer tablets for high schoolers. The $150,000 purchase was part of board appropriations for technology. On Tuesday, Swope got a first-hand look at goings-on in classrooms. "I visited the buildings today and saw kids working on computers and classrooms functioning and administrators had worked diligently through-out the week-end to put lesson plans together and get the kids back on track," says Swope. Swope adds that after some commotion at the high school on the first day of the strike, the atmosphere is calmer. Still, several high school students stayed away from school Tuesday. Juniors Madison Spicer and Trieton Shannon joined their teachers on the picket line. "We're not really learning. We're doing online learning you could say but the substitute is basically just baby-sitting us," Shannon says.
"My best friend, her mom won't let her go to school until this over. My mom, she supports that. You know if I get in trouble with the judge for not going to school for truancy, I'll let them know I felt unsafe," says Spicer. Differences Merit pay, health care changes, class sizes, and teacher turnover are among the issues that lead to the teachers strike. Now, both sides appear ready to return to bargaining. They quickly accepted a request from the federal mediator to meet face-to-face on Sunday.