Youngstown teachers and local labor leaders held a rally Thursday outside the city prosecutor’s office in downtown Youngstown, seeking charges against a school district administrator who they say hit a striking teacher with his car.
The Youngstown Education Association - the teachers union that's been on strike since Wednesday, Aug. 23 - says art teacher Shane Snyder was taken to the hospital the following day with non-life threatening injuries after being hit by Youngstown schools’ Chief Academic Officer Aaron Bouie III's as Bouie pulled into a school parking lot.
The teachers have been demonstrating outside school buildings since contract negotiations broke down between the union and Youngstown City School District administration. The two sides sat in a negotiation session all afternoon on Wednesday but have not yet come to an agreement on a new contract; representatives from both sides began negotiations anew Thursday morning, even with the rally set for 11:45 a.m.
Bouie has not been charged by the city prosecutor's office. Neither the school district nor the prosecutor’s office responded to a request for comment.
The school district filed a complaint with the State Employee Relations Board alleging the strike was illegal, but that board found that was not the case, allowing the strike to continue.
The two sides are at odds over wages and contract language. The union has said contract language is their main sticking point.
