Barring a significant change in their negotiations stances, the Mars School District and its teachers and support personnel unions are facing intense uncertainty regarding the start of the 2012-13 school year.

With both unions having twice rejected a state Labor Relations Board fact-finder’s report, the stage could be set for a disruption at the start of the school year, or shortly thereafter, although the board has said contract negotiations will continue during the summer.

“We shall persevere with purpose and continue in good faith,” said Dayle Ferguson, board president.

While it’s the district’s and unions’ task to hammer out new contracts, for district parents with children enrolled in the school system, this summer should include planning for child-care arrangements, should school not begin on time or if there is a work stoppage later.

This summer, district taxpayers should make their feelings known to board members about their thoughts on the district’s negotiations tactic.

But a reality now is gripping Mars that other area districts seem destined to face in coming years as they deal with their own negotiations — the need for greater austerity amid leaner budgets and state-imposed fiscal obligations such as increased payments to teachers’ pensions.

The fact that Mars teachers accepted a pay freeze for the 2011-12 fiscal year didn’t eliminate the district’s financial challenges. Now it’s necessary for them to acknowledge how much more worse-off the district would be if they hadn’t made that generous gesture.

Even with the teachers’ concession for the fiscal year that ends June 30, the district still faces a $1.2 million 2012-13 deficit that will have to be resolved prior to this fiscal year’s end.

While no one other than the unions and district can negotiate new pacts, the Mars unions are facing a situation that is not uncommon in other sectors of the workplace, where workers have lost jobs, accepted concessions including reduced pay, and still face uncertainties.

Although it can be said that Mars teachers unhappy with the current situation can choose to seek employment in another, higher-paying district, the fact is that opportunities elsewhere are limited and come with their own challenges, such as increased travel expenses.

Given the Western Pennsylvania economy, Mars teachers and support personnel could consider themselves fortunate with the compromise proposal prepared by the state fact-finder, since they would receive a pay increase, albeit a smaller one than what they have received in the past.

But a bigger contract sticking point might be the health care payment proposals that the fact-finder put forth — since Mars teachers currently pay nothing toward their health coverage.

Various proposed deductibles and co-pays could in some cases negate much or all of the increased pay that the contracts would stipulate — also a reality in some private businesses and industries.

Still, the status quo of teachers contributing nothing for their health care coverage will not be embraced by many taxpayers.

For Mars, the bottom line is a tough bargaining road with only two outcomes: a district further coming to grips with its fiscal realities or a district positioning itself for a worse money dilemma.

It’s said that the best contract is one about which neither side is happy. The stage is set for pacts in which both sides are extremely unhappy.

Then there was the 2009 Harris Interactive survey paid for in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that reported in March 2010 that U.S. teachers are more interested in school reform and student achievement than in their paychecks.

If that’s true, a solution to the Mars teachers contract dilemma should be closer at hand than currently appears apparent.

Regardless, the two unions and board must commit themselves to making this summer as productive as possible.