ADAMS TWP — With teachers working over 120 days without a new contract amid the challenges of COVID-19, Mars Area School District parents and staff asked members of the school board how negotiations are going during a virtual meeting Wednesday night.

“As a community member and also a parent of a child in the district, this is concerning to me,” Amber Rush said.

Rush specifically said she heard there were no negotiations in August and a session planned for this week was canceled.

John Kennedy, board presidents, confirmed a negotiation session scheduled for Monday was canceled at the last-minute because the district's solicitor went out of town.

“We certainly didn't foresee that coming,” said Christine Valenta, board member. “I don't want you to read anything else into that.”

The board is communicating with staff negotiators and does have a session scheduled Nov. 23, according to Kennedy. Board members said they did meet with teachers Oct. 15.

Amy Nassif, who's been a district parent for 15 years, thanked the board for making sure students have options for attending school this year but still expressed her concerns that district teachers aren't getting proper attention.

“I think that they've been overlooked over the past couple weeks,” she said. “We have some of the most amazing teachers.”

Nassif encouraged the board to work through some “extraordinary circumstances” to continue negotiation talks.

Sharyn Lipnicky, a fourth-grade teacher at Mars Area Elementary School, spoke for the Mars Area Education Association about the expiration of the teachers' contract this summer.

“We believe MAEA has approached negotiations in good faith,” Lipnicky said. “We are both frustrated and concerned that the district has not participated in this effort as eagerly as we would have expected.”

The association approached the district in June and August about the negotiation schedule, according to Lipnicky.

She said despite these efforts, there's been no progress on a concrete schedule.

“Two out of our last three scheduled negotiating sessions — selected by the district — have been canceled,” Lipnicky said.

Lipnicky said in addition, the last contract proposal MAEA received was in March.

Lipnicky said MAEA will continue to communicate with the district about establishing a more frequent negotiation schedule.

“We look forward to meeting with everybody,” Valenta said, “and continuing the discussion.”