DALLAS TWP. — The Dallas Education Association will not strike Tuesday, Sept. 5, which is the first day back for teachers.
An automated call released the news to district families who were preparing to either send their children to school Wednesday, Sept. 6 — the first day back for students — or make alternate arrangements if teachers planned to hit the picket lines. The potential strike has now been rescheduled for Friday, Sept. 22.
“We hope that we can come to a resolution before then to avoid a strike,” Michael Cherinka, the president of the Dallas Education Association, said in a statement.
Cherinka said the strike date was rescheduled based on “the positive meetings” between the district and union negotiating teams.
“We are hoping it (positive negotiations) continue,” he said. “We want to resolve this.”
Nearly 173 Dallas School District teachers walked a picket line for 22 days, starting last November. The threat of a second strike shadowed the remainder of the 2016-17 school year, which ended June 30.
Under state law, teachers can strike twice in one school year. The first strike must end in time for the district to complete 180 days of school by June 15, while a second strike must end in time to complete 180 days by June 30.
Once a strike starts, the state Department of Education calculates how long it can continue before teachers must return to class.
District teachers have worked without a contract since August 2015. The school board started negotiating with the union in 2014, but negotiations stalled on issues such as pensions, salary and health care.
