East County

Teachers in the Grossmont Union High School District will go on strike Jan. 31 if their contract negotiations are not settled by then, teachers union President John Logsdon said Friday.

The Grossmont Education Assn., which represents about 900 teachers, also will stage a one-day walkout Dec. 6, when members will take their contract demands before East County residents in a “Community Awareness Day,” Logsdon said. The threats were made public at the district’s Board of Education meeting Thursday night.

“Nothing else has worked. We have made every concession that is conceivable. We’re running out of things to do,” Logsdon said.

Two financial issues still separate the district and the union, which have been negotiating since March. The teachers are demanding a 7% salary increase in the first year of a two-year contract, while the district is offering a 4% raise.

John Marquand, a member of the district’s negotiating team, said management is prepared to increase its offer but cannot afford a 7% pay raise. The union has demanded that the district make its final offer at a mediation session scheduled for Tuesday.

The two sides are also far apart on how much lottery revenue to spend on making classes smaller.

About 20,000 students from El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove and Spring Valley are taught in the district’s nine high schools and one “continuation school” for students requiring special instruction or discipline.