JEFFERSON TWP — The South Butler School Board Wednesday night voted unanimously to approve the results of a fact-finding session regarding its contract dispute with its teachers.

“The board has consistently tried to compromise to get a deal done with the teachers,” said district solicitor Tom Breth. “It's time for the teachers to reciprocate.”

The district and the union have been involved in a contract dispute since 2014, when the last contract expired. If settled, the current contract would expire in 2020.

A fact-finding hearing, requested in July by the teachers union to the Pennsylvania Labor Board, was held Aug. 18 by fact-finder Jane DeSimone.

DeSimone's findings made recommendations on several issues.

She recommended a high-deductible health care plan for teachers that included a health savings account fully funded by the district.

Breth said that under the proposed plan, the school district would be responsible for $1,300 of a $1,350 deductible for individuals, and $1,700 of a $2,700 deductible for families.

Breth estimated that the money the district would save under this plan would be $125,000, as opposed to the $190,000 he said it saves under the current health care plan.

“It doesn't save the district enough money,” he said.

Another recommendation of DeSimone's report related to teacher salaries. Teachers are given raises on a “step movement” basis, receiving a predetermined raise based on a scale that includes 20 levels of salary.

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.

In addition, DeSimone recommended that teachers who teach various grades be required to attend, with additional compensation, all school open houses that include their classes.

She added a stipulation that there should be no more than two open houses per week.

She also recommended that teacher in-service days be increased from a five-hour work day to a 7.5-hour work day, which is a full work day for the teachers.

Another recommendation made was to eliminate language from the previous contract that Breth said limits how teachers can utilize the final 10 minutes of a school day to aid students.

Breth said the teachers union voted on the fact-finding process Wednesday. Results of the vote were not available.

If the union voted to approve the results, the recommendations will be added into the collective bargaining agreement. Breth said the district and union would then sign the agreement.

“Basically, the negotiations come to an end,” he said.

If the union rejected the fact-finding results, both sides will have to vote again within 10 days. If, upon a second vote, either side rejects the results, negotiations would continue.

A fact-finding process was conducted in 2015. The district voted to approve the results of the process, while the union voted to reject the findings.