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Reports of man with gun cause Wilkes-Barre Area school to go on lockdown

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He thought he had a lung tumor. It was a tiny toy he inhaled 40 years ago.

<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; Big yellow school buses lined up in front of Dallas Elementary School for the first time in almost two weeks Tuesday.</p><p>At 8:50 a.m., bus doors opened, releasing hundreds of students to classrooms and teachers they had not seen since last month.</p><p>It was the first day back to school following a strike that covered seven school days and forced nearly 171 teachers and more than 2,600 students out of Dallas classrooms.</p><p>The Dallas Education Association went on strike Sept. 22 due to a contract impasse. The sides are stuck on issues of salary, health care, pensions and early retirement. On health care, teachers have refused to budge on sharing some of their premium costs with the district.</p><p>On Monday, teachers agreed to return to work, temporarily, while the district&#8217;s negotiation committee reviewed documentation on the union&#8217;s revised health care proposal, said Michael Cherinka, DEA president.</p><p>Union leaders gave the district the revised offer, signed an agreement to return to work, and filed a second intent-to-strike notice for Nov. 22, Cherinka said.</p><p>The school board received the union&#8217;s revised health care proposal Monday night during an executive session, district solicitor Vito DeLuca said Tuesday.</p><p>DeLuca said the board is looking at scheduling a meeting with the union next week.</p><p>&#8220;We did receive some dates from John Holland (of the Pennsylvania State Education Association),&#8221; DeLuca said, noting the board needs to check its availability.</p><p>DeLuca said it is unlikely board members will have completed their analysis of the more than 80-page proposal by then, but he hopes union members would be open to a question-and-answer style meeting.</p><p>Dallas School District teachers have been working without a contract since August 2015. The board and union started negotiating a new deal in 2014.</p><p>Under state law, teachers are allowed to strike twice in a school year, as long as the first strike ends in time to complete 180 student-instructional days by June 15. A second strike must end in time to complete 180 days by June 30.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Dallas Elementary School students head into their classrooms Tuesday following a teachers strike that started Sept. 22 and covered seven school days. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_Dallas-returns-Oct.-3-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dallas Elementary School students head into their classrooms Tuesday following a teachers strike that started Sept. 22 and covered seven school days. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

After strike, classes resume Tuesday in Dallas School District