After three hours of negotiations between Banning Unified School District (BUSD) and Banning Teachers Association (BTA) no settlement was reached between the parties and the strike will continue into its third day on Friday, August 10.

While district officials offered a sum to compensate Nicolet Middle School teachers for the additional hour they were forced to work last year, it was only 60% of the value of last year’s required work.

Banning officials did not offer to compensate teachers for the actual cost of that additional hour of compelled work.

Banning officials also want to retain a provision that extends the day 20 minutes at Nicolet; they did not include provisions to pay for the future cost of that time. In other words, Mr. Guillen extended the contract by an hour and is offering to give teachers 40 of those minutes back.

BTA President Anthony Garcia remarked, “This is typical behavior. Mr. Guillen is the neighbor that steals your chickens, then wants to negotiate the terms for you getting some of your eggs back.”

BTA members continue to stay strong and united as join the line for the third day of strike begins tomorrow.