PROVO -- Provo's 20 schools will most likely close if a much-rumored teacher's strike is called.
"If we have no teachers there is no way we can provide a safe and quality education," said Provo City School District Superintendent Mike Jacobsen. "The worst thing that could happen is to have kids in school or on the way, and we find out that we don't have staff there."Provo's Board of Education agreed Monday in a closed-door meeting to shut down schools if staffing levels dropped at each school and qualified substitutes could not be quickly found, he said.
The district will send a letter to parents Tuesday or Wednesday to let them know of the district's plans if teachers opt to protest state funding levels by walking out of classrooms.
The message, which is now being written and translated for the district's Spanish-speaking households, will express concern over the possible strike and inform parents how they will be told if the school doors are closed, Jacobsen said.
The superintendent said the board is not taking a position on the possible strike by sending out a letter addressing the issue.
Board members simply want parents to know that they have thought about the possible strike, have formed a contingency plan and discussed ways to inform parents.
"Hopefully, nothing will happen," Jacobsen said. "If it does, the purpose of the letter is to let parents know the board has thought it through."
In the event of a strike, the schools will use phone trees to contact each home. "It's the same thing we'd use for a snow day," he said.
Rumors have swirled about a strike since the Utah Education's Association rallied last year for more state funding.
Teachers are concerned about low salaries, packed schools and outdated textbooks.
UEA leaders are surveying members of teacher associations in various districts to find out if proposed funding levels are acceptable to the educator's ranks.
Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt recommends a 6 percent increase in the weighted pupil unit, the state's formula for distributing funding per student.
Although the UEA wants a 7 percent increase, Leavitt's proposal has been warmly received by the association.
In 1999, lawmakers allocated a 2.5 percent increase in per-pupil funding.
But most of that money went toward paying for increased insurance premiums, giving teachers little or no pay raise.
Utah spends the least per student in the nation. In 1999, the state spent $4,008 per student.
The national average was $6,407.