After a monthslong hiatus and an Unfair Labor Practice charge, the Bellwood-Antis School District and the Bellwood-Antis Education Association are set to resume negotiations tonight, Oct. 16.

The district’s teachers have been working without a contract since the last one expired at midnight on June 30.

On the bargaining table tonight, in addition to regular contract negotiations, is a call by the association for the district to withdraw the Unfair Labor Practice charge.

If district officials don’t withdraw the charge by Thursday, Oct. 30, the association’s members have threatened to authorize a strike, the district stated in the release.

District Superintendent Ed DiSabato said the bargaining process began in January and seven negotiation sessions between the district and the union were made between January and May 7.

At the May meeting, the district presented the association with a “comprehensive proposal” covering the open issues between the parties, the district said in a news release, stating that at that time, there were only a few outstanding issues.

The two parties agreed to take a break and meet again on Aug. 19.

When talks resumed in August, though, the association came in with a new salary proposal and placed about five new items on the bargaining table that had not been raised during the prior months of bargaining, the district stated.

The district offered the association the opportunity to withdraw their proposals and return to where the parties left off in May.

As that offer was rejected, the district filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge with the state Labor Relations Board on Sept. 19. A hearing on the matter has been set for Dec. 17.

Association President Drew Moyer disagrees with the district’s timeline of events, and said district officials “were at the end of their line” in negotiations with a 3.7% annual salary raise.

At the end of the May 7 session, district officials claimed the association’s bargaining team asked for a hiatus for “an unextended period of time and were not desirous of returning to the table through the balance of May, June or July.”

Moyer said the district’s statement is inaccurate. He said the association requested a six-week cool down period following the May session because “tensions were high.” Moyer said he approached the school board of directors at their June 11 meeting, stating that both sides were “significantly” farther apart from each other than what district officials realized.

Moyer said the salary proposal presented by the union on Aug. 19 was not new. The association’s contention has more to do with the other items presented, related to health insurance costs for teachers, retirement benefits, pay raises, more equity and transparency from the district.

Moyer said the district hired someone with four years of experience but put the individual on step seven of the salary schedule. That created a lot of angst among the association’s members, Moyer said, noting teachers wanted to “clearly define” where people are placed on the salary schedule.

“The salary schedule and the steps should mean something,” Moyer said, adding the association didn’t directly propose a higher salary percentage to the district.

“We were trying to get a discussion opened. It was part of a comprehensive package where we didn’t present the number,” Moyer said. “We wanted to speak about the (salary) steps, but that was not an acceptable approach, so they walked.”

According to the district, Bellwood-Antis officials felt the association bargaining team was “bargaining in bad faith” and provided the association with an opportunity to withdraw their proposals and return to where the parties left off May 7.

According to the district’s release, the association was advised the district would file an Unfair Labor Practice charge for regressive bargaining if they did not withdraw their proposals.

Moyer said he addressed the school board during the Oct. 7 committee of the whole meeting to ask the district to return to the table and provide new negotiation dates.

The district’s release states that Thursday, Oct. 9, the district’s solicitor corresponded with the association’s Pennsylvania State Education Association UniServ representative, Douglas Rosenberry, asking for an opportunity for the district’s business manager to sit down with Moyer to review the district’s salary proposal.

Since issuing that email to Rosenberry, the district “has not heard anything” from the association until teachers announced Monday their intent to vote on a strike, district officials said.

On Tuesday, the district agreed to meet with the association for another negotiation session, which is to take place at 7 p.m. today.

In an email, DiSabato said the district remains committed to resolving the impasse in a responsible and constructive manner.

“Our negotiating team is focused on reaching a fair and regionally competitive agreement that also reflects fiscal responsibility to our school community,” DiSabato said.

Moyer said he’s uncertain that the association and the district will come to terms with a 3.7% annual raise in the new contract.

“At this point, there are too many factors for me to be certain where we will close,” he said.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.