Teachers in the Freeport School District are due positive notice for the patience they have displayed while working this year without a new contract.

They haven't complained publicly about the lack of an approved pact, allowing the negotiations process to move forward without visible animosity.

Now it seems that a new contract could be in place in the next week or so, or at least by December.

That is not to imply that the negotiations road hasn't been without bumps. The fact that there has been considerable contract-provisions distance between the district and teachers union at times was confirmed by Mark Wyant, chief negotiator and president-elect of the Freeport Education Association.

The word "impasse" has been used to describe that distance between the two sides. However, a temporary impasse need not cause longstanding ill will, and it apparently hasn't at Freeport, to the credit of both the district and the teachers.

The teachers have been working since Aug. 23 under terms of the previous contract. Attorneys for both sides currently are working out the final wording of a new agreement.

After the lawyers' work is completed, the teachers and board will vote on the proposed pact. It is to be hoped that both sides' patience will be rewarded.

Regardless, both sides merit a cheer for the way the negotiations process has been carried out thus far.