Local News in Brief : Villa Park : Teacher Stages Sleep-In Over Wage Negotiations

A 63-year-old teacher moved his clothes and other personal belongings to Villa Park High School on Wednesday, saying he would stay there around the clock until a contract settlement is reached between the teachers union and the Orange Unified School District.

The two sides have been unsuccessfully negotiating for a teachers’ pay raise for the past year. Unhappy about the lack of progress in contract talks, teachers staged a one-day strike on April 12.

On Wednesday, Robert Cameron of Orange, who has been a teacher for 32 years, said he will sleep on the floor of his mathematics classroom at Villa Park High. He said he would use the boys’ locker room for bathing and will eat breakfast and lunches at the school cafeteria. His wife will bring suppers, he said, adding that occasionally he will have pizza delivered.

Cameron said he expected to be joined in the “sleep-in” protest by at least two other male teachers at Villa Park High. He said their protest would make a point without disruption to students, unlike a strike situation.

Cameron, who has two grown sons, said he is dismayed that the negotiations have been stalled for so long. “It’s unbelievable to me that two adult groups could not find some compromise over a year’s period,” he said.