OLD FORGE -- Teachers in a Lackawanna County school district have announced that they plan to strike.
Students in the Old Forge School District are scheduled to start the school year on Thursday but the teachers union says they won't be back to class for long.
The union has informed the district a strike will start on next Tuesday, September 3, the day after Labor Day.
Old Forge is certainly familiar with teachers strikes. It leads the state in number of days off in recent years because of teachers on picket lines.
The last strike was December of 2012, when teachers walked out just before Christmas break.
The union says teachers would rather be in the classrooms, but after four years of unsuccessful bargaining, the union says there is no other choice. It says the district is putting teachers last.
There have been several strikes at Old Forge in recent years.
The district says the latest negotiations broke down July 1 and now prepares for what will likely another disruption.
The Old Forge School Board says classes will be cancelled if teachers go on strike next week.
In a statement the head of the board says, "The district simply cannot afford the union's demands and the strike will do nothing to change that."
Adding, "Who pays nothing for their healthcare these days?"