Parents, teachers call on Albany school board to resign on eighth day of strike

ALBANY, OR (KPTV) – Thursday marked the eighth day of the teachers’ strike in Albany. The teachers union’s initial demands were higher wages and smaller class sizes. But this week teachers and parents called for the entire school board to resign.

A petition began circulating online Tuesday calling for the Albany school board to resign. In the first 48 hours, the petition received more than 1,000 signatures.

Middle school teacher Samantha Stroup said the petition shows the community supports the striking teachers.

“And it is the school board that is stalling our procedures and progress in resolving the contract and returning to school,” Stroup said, holding a sign that read “Strike for Safe Schools.”

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Stroup was one of more than 300 teachers who marched from downtown Albany to the district school office Thursday afternoon.

After a strike that lasted more than a week, these teachers said they felt like the school board and Principal Andy Gardner were standing against them.

“We really advocate for smaller class sizes so we can provide our students with everything they need, and the school board for some strange reason says no,” Stroup said.

As striking teachers marched through the streets of Albany, they each held a handful of No. 2 pencils. When they arrived at the district office, they tossed more than 1,000 pencils onto the porch to represent petition signatures.

As pencils piled up in front of the district office, Superintendent Gardner held a virtual meeting to provide an update on the negotiations.

“We’ve seen movement from GAEA on some of the topics presented here and how we could bring this plan together, and we’ll continue to work on that,” Gardner said.

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Regarding the petition, Gardner said he disagreed with the call to action and noted that each school board member earned their position through election.

“These are volunteers, and they won the majority of votes among the population when they sought this position. Their job is to approve the budget, approve the superintendent, and they are constantly monitoring where we are as we move forward through these two very difficult fiscal years,” Gardner said.

Regardless of whether the school board leaves or not, these teachers say they will continue to strike until everyone agrees to a new contract.

At the same time as the Albany strike, special education teachers filed a complaint with the Oregon Department of Education against the school district, alleging that illegal meetings were held with parents of special education students in which the district attempted to force parents to agree to a reduction in their children’s in-person instruction. educational programs, also known as IEPs.

Gardner did not address the allegations during his virtual meeting.

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