JEFFERSON TWP — After one and a half hours of negotiations through a state mediator, the final effort to avoid a teacher strike at South Butler School District failed Wednesday night.

It was a busy night on the district's campus, and the activity all surrounded the expectation of the district's 168 teachers hitting the picket line Thursday, which state union representative Brook Witt confirmed late Wednesday night would occur. She said teachers will gather at the nearby VFW hall at 9 a.m. to prepare for the strike.

The parent and community group South Butler School Action Committee held a rally on Wednesday evening to encourage a settlement and support students.

Witt said Wednesday night she did not believe the district was bargaining in good faith.

“We were more than willing to engage in negotiations,” Witt said. “I'm not surprised we're here, but I wish we weren't.”

District solicitor Tom Breth had a different take on Wednesday's negotiation session. Breth said he again requested a proposal from teachers outlining what it would take to avoid a strike, but did not receive one.

“It's unbelievable,” Breth said. “It's almost as if they wanted to go on strike.”

Breth said the state Department of Education will issue a date when the strike must end, so students will receive the required 180 days of instruction by June 15.

Both sides will then give a final, best offer to a three-person arbitration panel, which will hold a hearing to get both sides' arguments. The panel will then determine a contract, which both sides will vote on. If one side rejects the contract, then negotiations will resume.

The district and its teachers have been in less-than-fruitful negotiations since the last teachers contract expired on June 30, 2014.

The issues causing the standoff include wages, health care, tuition reimbursement, early retirement incentive, the length of Act 80 and in-service days for teachers, and the length of a new contract.

State fact-finders were used in both September 2015 and August 2017, but the school board approved and teachers rejected the reports.

Talks ramped up when the teachers announced in early February that they had a strike date in mind.

Witt, the Uniserv negotiator representing the teachers, said at that time that at a Feb. 8 negotiating session, Breth presented a proposal on two provisions that were the same as the board's initial proposal four years ago.

“All the conversations, debates and explanations by the association's bargaining team for four years, totally ignored,” Witt said at the time.

But Breth accused the teachers of stubbornly refusing to negotiate in good faith toward a contract with the district.