SAXONBURG — The South Butler School District's meeting Wednesday was packed with people concerned about the district's contract dispute with the teachers' union.

Many who crowded into Knoch Middle School's library for the meeting were there as a show of support for the union, while some supported the district.

The teachers have been without a contract since the beginning of 2014, after the last contract expired.

The board voted Wednesday to again accept the results of a fact-finding report from fact-finder Jane DeSimone, who held a hearing in August regarding the contract dispute.

The board initially voted Sept. 5 to accept the report. The union voted the same day and rejected it.

Union representative Brooke Witt said Wednesday there would be no second vote by the union, and that the board would be notified Thursday of the union's final decision to reject the fact-finding report.

Witt said last Thursday the union rejected the report, in part, because it recommended a freeze on step wages for the first two years of the contract.

“They wouldn't receive any compensation or credit on the salary schedule for the years that they had worked, so that was clearly a big stumbling block,” Witt said.

Teachers are given raises on a “step movement” basis, receiving a predetermined raise based on a scale that includes 20 levels of salary.

In her fact-finder's report, DeSimone recommended that for the first two years of the contract, there should be no step movement, and that there should be step movement for Year 3.

For each of the last three years of the contract, DeSimone recommended that the teachers receive their usual step movement raises, as well as an average of a 3 percent increase in pay on top of that.

“The board is frustrated with the teachers' entitlement mentality and their demonstrated lack of concern or respect for the financial burdens placed upon the residents of this school district,” said district solicitor Tom Breth. “The board has repeatedly compromised in an effort to reach a reasonable agreement with the teachers.”

Several people spoke at the meeting, including Shawn Brumbaugh, a South Butler School District teacher.

“We are here for the kids,” he said. “We do not want this contract dispute to continue.

“We want a settled contract. We want a negotiated contract. We do not want a conflict.”

Jason Miller, who said he pays taxes in the district and has children who go to district schools, spoke in support of the board.

“(The teachers) have been duped into believing they're irreplaceable,' he said. “No one is irreplaceable.'

He called the district's contract desires “more than fair.”

Tracy Ambrose, who is a parent of Knoch High School students, said that in her experience, the teachers of Knoch High School “are some of the best, truly.”

“I am frustrated that this (contract dispute) has been a game that the district has been playing with the teachers for so long,” Ambrose said.

Many others also gathered outside the middle school before the meeting in a show of support for the teachers. One of them, Heather Helsel, a district taxpayer, called herself “pro-education.”

“(Teachers are) the No. 1 indicator of student success,” she said. “I feel like that's where our dollars and support needs to go, because it has the longest benefit for our students.”

Bargaining sessions between the union and the district are scheduled for Tuesday and then Oct. 2, each at 6 p.m.

Witt said Wednesday that she was “not sure” if a teachers strike will happen, and that the union is intent on continuing negotiations.

“We'll see if we can make any progress, if there's anything that we can create out of the fact-finding process, and if the district is willing to negotiate,” Witt said.

George Zacherl, the husband of a district teacher, attended the meeting and said that there haven't been enough bargaining sessions between the district and the union.

“They should be clearing their schedules so (a strike) doesn't happen,” Zacherl said.