Nov 18, 2015 By Suzanne Elliott 2 min read

It appears more certain that Peters Township School District teachers will remain on strike until Nov. 27.

The teachers and the district met Wednesday in an attempt to hammer out an agreement that would put 4,300 students back in the classroom before Black Friday. But talks, called Tuesday afternoon by a state mediator, ended only 90 minutes after they started.

“The district continues to be obstinate,” said Paul Homer, a staff representative for Peters Local 3431 of the American Federation of Teachers. “There will be no meeting before the end of the strike.”

The work stoppage has sharply divided the community, which was evident at the Peters Township School Board meeting Monday night that had to be moved to the Peters Township Middle School to accommodate the crowd of more than 300 people, 200 of whom were teachers. Many parents wore red shirts saying they were willing to wait for a reasonable end to the strike. The teachers, meanwhile, had on blue shirts bearing their union logo and were adamant about wanting a fair and equitable contract.

The major issues are salaries and health care costs.

The district maintained its financial stance in light of pending legislation that would allow state school districts to raise taxes with a referendum vote by the public. It also asked the union to agree to have its 285 teachers return to class immediately and wait and see how the legislation, Senate Bill 909, is received.

“With over 75 percent of our revenues coming from local sources, Senate Bill 909 adds a new level of complexity to these negotiations,” Superintendent Jeannine French said in a statement. “While we greatly value our teachers, we are ever mindful of the impact of our financial decision on our taxpayers and we cannot agree to a contract that is beyond our means and jeopardizes the future of our district.”