RE:  Potential Strike by the Shippensburg University Faculty

 

Student Teachers from Shippensburg University

 

You are most likely aware that the faculty of Shippensburg University, who are represented by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculty (APSCUF), have declared a strike notice set to begin next Wednesday, October 19.  Negotiations are continuing and we are hopeful that the dispute will be resolved and a strike will be avoided. We do not know how long a strike may last but are hopeful that it will be of short duration.

We are requesting that the student teachers with placements in your district be permitted to continue their student teaching experience under the direction of the district teacher(s) to whom they have been assigned.  They will most likely not be visited by their university supervisor for the duration of the strike.  However, we would like the student teacher’s day-to-day experience to continue uninterrupted.  We believe this is best for our student teachers as well as for the teachers and students in your district with whom they are working.  Each teacher with an assigned student has received a letter from me similar to this one.

 

In regard to SASD K-5 students who attend GBLUES.

 

Grace B. Luhrs University Elementary School

 

In the event a strike does occur on October 19, 2016, or thereafter, we have a Plan A and a Plan C in place as follows.

 

Plan A:  GBLUES will be open/operate on regular hours.  SASD will secure 3 substitutes to teach K, 1, and 2 since those faculty members are University faculty.  A SU Administrator will serve as the school Administrator during this time.

 

Plan C:  If there is a hostile environment on campus (hopefully not) or a hostile environment is anticipated and thus the educational environment is not good for our K-5 students who attend GBLUES or the school is inaccessible for any reason, we will cancel school on the strike day(s) for GBLUES students only and an additional day(s) will be added on at the end of the school year for GBLUES students only.  The school district will make this announcement, if necessary, by 6 AM on October 19^th and sooner if possible.  A robo-call will be sent out to GBLUES families and all SASD employees, a message will be posted on the District Homepage, and media outlets will be notified similar to inclement weather notices.