Top, South Butler teachers last went on strike in 2009. Pictured are Knoch High School teachers walking the picket line during that work stoppage.Above, many South Butler School Board meetings, including this one in November, have drawn a crowd as the negotiations between teachers and the board have dragged on for almost four years.

JEFFERSON TWP — The South Butler School Board's negotiator discounted a pointed news release by the negotiator for the teachers association, as the contract stalemate between the district and its 168 faculty members continues.

Brooke Witt, UniServ representative with the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said in a statement Friday that the district at a negotiating session the night before presented a proposal on two provisions that were the same as the board's initial proposal four years ago.

“All the conversations, debates and explanations by the association's bargaining team for four years, totally ignored,” Witt said in the statement.

Witt said on Monday morning that the teachers association has a potential strike date selected, but she would not divulge it.

She said the board has spent more than $350,000 in legal fees since negotiations began when the prior contract expired in June 2014.

“The district happily spends the taxpayers' money on its attorney, but won't discuss or offer additional compensation to the teachers for their past years of work,” Witt said.

Witt said the fund balance — reserve funds not earmarked for any specific purpose — in the district budget has expanded by more than $3 million to $8.2 million in those four years.

She said the standard amount most districts carry in their fund balance is 5 percent of the total budget, while South Butler's is 22 percent.

“The district has sufficient funds available to fairly settle the contract without a work stoppage but has made a persistent choice to disrespect the teachers,” Witt said, “withhold settling a contract and (taking) advantage of the dedication the teachers have to the students of the (district).”

The most disrespectful of the board's actions, Witt claims, is its failure to present a response to the wage and health care proposal provided by the association at the January negotiating session.

“The district continues to ask for more time (and) to reduce benefits in the contract, but won't discuss compensation or health care,” Witt's statement said.

On Monday morning, board negotiator and solicitor Tom Breth was surprised that Witt had issued the news release.

“The association and the board met in December and January, at the request of the teachers, and the parties both agreed that what was discussed would be held in confidence,” Breth said. “Unlike the association, the board has honored their word.”

Breth said the proposal provided by the board was not the same as that of four years ago.

He said Witt's news release ignores the “countless discussions” on options to modify the language at issue regarding tuition reimbursement and the length of the school day.The two sides also had numerous discussions over the last three years, Breth said, regarding compromises. He said the teachers have rejected each of them.“So the idea that the board would change their proposal when they said no to those anyway makes no sense,” he said.The school board, Breth said, is the only party to say yes during the lengthy negotiations, including the approval of fact-finding reports in October 2015 and September 2017. The association rejected those reports.“The teachers have never said yes to anything of substance and that is why these negotiations are going on,” he said. “They have an entitlement mentality that it has to be their way or no way.”Witt on Monday said the teachers hope to break the pattern of strikes in the school district during contract negotiations, but are losing hope.“We've been bargaining for four years,” she said. “It's hard not to have a potential (strike) date.”She said the district has seen four teachers strikes in the last six contract negotiations.“We really went in with the attitude of trying to resolve this as amicably as possible, but unfortunately nothing has changed,” Witt said.She said the new school board president, Matthew Cimbala, has not attended any of the two or three meetings the two sides have had since the beginning of the year.“We purposely have the meetings late so people who have jobs can attend, but it's frustrating when the teachers are there late and we aren't able to have the people we need there,” Witt said.She said wages and health care continue to be major issues in the stalemate, but the district's request for concessions in tuition reimbursement and the early retirement incentive, plus their desire to add time onto the seven in-service days each year, are also sticking points.Witt characterized the faculty's attitude as “frustrated and demoralized.”“There's only so many times you can go through this that it doesn't impact their ability to come to school with a positive attitude,” she said.Asked if she sees any possible way to avoid a strike and settle a fair contract, Witt is blunt.“I'm out of tricks,” she said. “I don't know what else to do.”Breth said he will give a report on the stalemate at Wednesday's school board meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. in the Knoch Middle School library.

The audience on hand at the November South Butler school board committee meeting on Wednesday, 1/1/17 (Dave Prelosky photo)