SAXONBURG — Both sides of the South Butler School District teachers’ contract dispute argued over what each thought to be inaccurate claims made by their opposition at Wednesday’s school board meeting at Knoch Middle School.

School board solicitor Tom Breth went through an update on contract negotiations written by Brooke Witt, who is Pennsylvania State Education Association representative for the district’s 168 teachers.

The update, written in an e-mail to South Butler County Education Association members, also was posted online, according to Breth. However, Witt said it was not posted by her or an association member.

“I drafted the statement that somebody put online, and I stand by everything that’s in it based on the bargaining history, as well as the information that’s been provided by the district to the association at this point that’s come through negotiations, right-to-know requests and also just through conversations that we’ve had,” Witt said.

She said the update was in response to the updates the school board had been posting on the school district’s Website for months.

“We didn’t respond for a long time because I don’t feel that bargaining in public is conducive to resolving things,” Witt said. “It really just creates bad blood between the parties and we’ve been trying very hard to keep things on the up and up. The teachers here are dedicated to the kids and they want to continue to serve the community.”

She said the teachers decided that they had to respond.

Breth contended with several statements in Witt’s update. After getting the OK from Witt, he divulged in the specifics of contract negotiations during the meeting.

Breth noted that the update said the association proposed a health-care plan to the school board that would save the school district $190,098 in its initial year of implementation.

He said that the board sent the proposed plan to a health combine and to Highmark, which Breth said analyzed the program and found the savings to be $115,500.

“Not an insignificant amount of money,” he said. “Certainly not. But not equal to the savings that the school district would experience through its consumer savings plan.”

Witt said she was never given the $115,500 figure.

Breth went on to explain why the board wants to go with what he called a “consumer-driven plan.”

“We will never agree to a health savings account,” he said, adding that is what the association is asking for.

Breth also said the school board proposed in January the base health care plan, which was the consumer-driven plan. Breth said the board also offered an alternative plan, which would cost the school district equal to or less than the base plan.

Breth took issue with Witt’s update referring to the board’s approach to the health care plan as “single-minded.”

“It hasn’t been that the board hasn’t been willing to consider other options or other modifications,” he said. “The board has always been willing to discuss those.”

Witt said otherwise.

“In the last two years I have probably put together no less than six or seven different health care alternatives that the district has been unwilling to entertain,” she said.

Breth closed his critique of Witt’s update by making a recommendation to the school board.

“If this type of characterization of the board’s proposals continues, I’m going to strongly recommend that the actual (proposal documents) are posted to the website,” he said.

The meeting was packed with residents who were there specifically for the contract issue.

George Zacherl, a Jefferson Township resident, spoke of his weariness regarding the contract dispute, which Witt said is in its third year and has reached nearly 1,000 days.

He spoke of how teachers, students, and taxpayers are doing their duty by teaching, learning and working.

“It seems like everybody is working on both sides except for the school board and the teachers’ union,” he said. “They’re just talking. It’s time for the talking to end and a solution to be found.”

Currently, teachers are working under the terms of an expired contract that stretches back to June 2014. Both Witt and Breth expressed a desire to find a solution to the contract dispute, and will have an opportunity to do so when both sides meet again for negotiations Wednesday.