By: Dan Sokil

Despite rumors to the contrary, the striking teachers of the Souderton Area Education Association should be back in their classrooms, one way or another, by this time next week.

"Legally, they need to be back in the classroom after Sept. 23, to follow the provisions in the School Code," said Leah Harris, assistant press secretary for the state Department of Education.

Sept. 23 is the first of two "Critical Dates" set by the Department of Education under Act 88 of 1992. Under Act 88, teachers must return after that date in order to teach 180 days in the classroom by June 15.

"The first date is in the school code, which states that 'Provided a strike or a lockout is preventing the school district from providing 180 days of instruction by a date later than June 15 or the last day of the district's scheduled school year, the parties shall submit to mandated final best offer arbitration," said Harris.

"If they're not back in the classroom by Sept. 23, they are supposed to enter into non-binding legal arbitration. If they don't go back, we don't have any type of set action, it would have to be addressed on a case by case basis," she said.

The second "Critical Date," Oct. 8, would be a similar deadline: it's the date by which the teachers would have to return in order to provide 180 classroom days by June 30.

"At the point that they're approaching that date, the Secretary can initiate an injunctive proceeding to essentially make the school district start school, and those teachers go back into the classroom," Harris said.

When asked on Tuesday about the upcoming deadline, SAEA head Bill Lukridge was very clear.

"We must return back on the 24th. There's no question about it, we have to return back by the 24th. There's been no talk so far about returning before then, but that's the best I can answer that," Lukridge said.

The arbitration process would continue while the teachers are back in the classroom, and the fact finding process can take some time, but the teachers union has received no specific timeline for that process from the state, Lukridge said.

"We only know that three arbitrators have to be chosen, they will conduct their findings, and after that's completed they will post them. After they post, there's still 10 days of public recognition of those findings, and then from there they either get accepted or rejected," he said.

Depending on how long the entire arbitration process takes, a second strike could still occur, but would have to end before the second critical date of Oct. 8.

"Though it is true that the Secretary of Education won't file an injunction until Oct. 8, teachers in SASD are prohibited from striking as of Sept. 24," school district negotiator Jeffrey Sultanik said on Tuesday.

"Sources from the teachers union have told me that they plan to return to work on Sept. 24, and they will start the nonbinding arbitration process then, albeit begrudgingly," Sultanik said.

"I understand the concern, and frankly, we don't hold the magic wand here for when the teachers will return back to work," he said.

Negotiations between Sultanik and SAEA negotiator Gary Smith continued by phone on Tuesday, and while no new face to face negotiation sessions have been scheduled before Friday, all sides seem to agree on what will happen next week.

"Teachers and students will return no later than Sept. 24," Superintendent Charles Amuso said in an e-mail message on Tuesday.

"The state has said that we have to go back on the 24th. We have to go back, we absolutely have to go back on the 24th," Lukridge said.