McGuffey School District teachers have notified the school district they intend to go on strike Monday unless an agreement is reached.

A negotiation session is scheduled for Friday night.

"The board is hoping that Friday night we can try to resolve this and get a contract or stop the strike," said Benjamin Pratt, special labor counsel for the district.

"We don't really want to strike," said Andrew MacBeth, spokesman for local teachers. However, he said, "We just haven't been able to come to an agreement. We've been negotiating since December 2008. We've had over 17 sessions."

In December, the school board rejected a fact-finder's report, which had been accepted by the teachers.

Both said the district does not have official word from the state Department of Education, but it's estimated the strike could last three or four days before the teachers would have to return to work so that 180 days of instruction could be provided before June 15, as required by law.

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