Mars Area School District has officially requested fact-finding services for the ongoing teacher negotiations.

The request was originally suggested last week, seven days after the Mars Area Education Association (MAEA) announced on Feb. 3 that teachers will strike this Friday if a new contract isn't reached by then.

Parties involved in district-teacher negotiations can utilize the services of third-party reviewers through the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board in a process called fact finding.

If approved by the labor relations board, fact-finding reports analyze negotiations and offer formal findings. These findings can be voted on by both parties as acceptable or not.

If the parties find the recommendations acceptable, they become the basis for a new collective bargaining agreement.

The district considers fact finding a “reasonable alternative to the pending strike,” according to a letter it posted Friday. The letter was sent to Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) Region Field Director Brooke Witt last week.

In the letter, the district asked PSEA to join the fact finding request on behalf of the MAEA.

The school board said it's willing to uphold previously scheduled negotiation dates if the request is approved.

The latest district-teachers negotiation session took place Thursday night.

Tom Breth of Dillon McCandless King Coulter & Graham, negotiations solicitor for the district, indicated on Friday that, despite meeting for more than six hours, no formal progress was made.

Joe Graff, a Mars Area middle school teacher and president of MAEA, said the session at least seemed to open the doors to discussion.

“We both threw proposals back and forth,” Graff said. “It seemed productive in that sense.”

Graff didn't have a comment on the fact-finding request, other than to say he's hoping what it will mean for teachers becomes clearer in coming days.

In the meantime, Graff said he hopes Thursday's session “put a foundation down” for talks this week.

A session is scheduled for Tuesday night, with negotiations also planned for Wednesday and Thursday.

Teachers have been roughly 230 days without a new contract. They will turn out at the start of the workday Friday if a new agreement isn't reached by then.

Calls made Monday by the Eagle to PSEA and Breth for additional comment weren't returned by press time.