The Mars Area School Board will request that a state-appointed fact-finder take part in the contract negotiation process with the teacher association.
The board has directed solicitor Tom Breth to make the request to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board as well as request that teacher union negotiators join them in this process. Bargaining is expected to continue in the meantime. The board will request that teachers withdraw their strike notice which had set a work stoppage for a week from Friday, which is February 19th.
As part of the fact-finding process, each side presents their position to an independent third party who then issues a report detailing an opinion of a fair resolution to topics of disagreement. The Mars Area School Board and teachers union then will have the opportunity to vote to accept or reject the findings in the report which could be used as the basis of a new contract.
The two sides most recently met Monday evening to discuss and exchange proposals as well as responses for about seven hours. The district has chosen to post to their website the board’s most recent proposal along with the latest response from the teachers. The next bargaining session is planned for Thursday.
