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Union says parents can still meet with teachers during conferences in November.
UNION TWP. – In a move that surely will give residents a feeling of deja vu, the Northwest Area School District teachers union announced Monday that members will not attend “meet the teachers” nights scheduled for Sept. 14 through 17, thanks to the lack of a new contract to replace the one that expired in 2005.
The union made the same announcement last year, but reversed the stand after meeting with administrators and hammering out an agreement regarding what union lead negotiator Matt Gruenloh called at the time “procedural” issues.
Superintendent Nancy Tkatch has said that, while Meet the Teachers nights were non-mandatory, the district traditionally gives the teachers some time off as compensation by scheduling “early release time” later in the month.
In Monday’s announcement, the union noted parents can still meet teachers during parent-teacher conferences scheduled in November.
The two sides have been at negotiation deadlock for months. A Luzerne County judge ordered the two sides to meet at least three times a week, and a tentative agreement was reached, but the board then voted against that agreement. The judge then ordered more aggressive talks, with a minimum of six hours a day, six days a week, but there was still no progress, and he suspended the talks.
The School Board has asked to enter “fact finding,” a non-binding process in which a third party reviews the latest offer and proposes a compromise.