Gateway School District Students, Teachers Return To Class After Deal Reached To Avoid Strike

MONROEVILLE (KDKA) -- Class is on this morning for students in the Gateway School District.

In a last-minute push, school leaders and the teachers union ironed out a new agreement to avoid a strike.

The school district shared the latest update in the development in a Facebook post on Sunday.

The district said Sunday that classes will resume as scheduled this morning.

According to the Tribune-Review, the deal comes after 16 hours of negotiations took place over the weekend.

The Gateway Education Association notified the district about a strike last week.

The Tribune-Review's reporting says that the agreement is a four-year plan with teacher salaries increasing each year, as well as increased health care contributions from educators.

More than 260 district employees have been working without a contract since June 30 of last year.

The Tribune-Review says that negotiations began in January 2020, but the pandemic caused talks to significantly slow down.

It's reported that the average salary is more than $80,000.

According to the Tribune-Review, the agreement still has to be ratified by the union and has to be voted on by the school board.

It's unclear when the agreement will be ratified.