Palmerton teacher talks progress

Teachers union representatives and Palmerton Area School District’s negotiating team are making progress on contract talks.

During Tuesday night’s school board meeting, board President Barry Scherer said four-member negotiating teams for both sides met recently in what he called a “very productive” session.

“We’re anticipating an offer from the union by this weekend,” Scherer said. “Our discussions have been fruitful and we’re hopeful that we are progressing toward a settlement.”

The district’s previous contract with its teachers expired June 30, 2016, leading to a two-week work stoppage in early 2017.

Back-and-forth offers in October yielded no resolution and while neither side offered details of the most recent sessions, the union shares the optimism outlined by Scherer.

“The association felt last week’s meeting was a positive step forward toward a settlement,” Palmerton Area Education Association President Tom Smelas said in an email Tuesday night. “The association team will be putting together a counterproposal over the next few days and we hope this proves another step in the right direction.”

The last known district offer, made in October, featured a 3 percent pay increase for each year of a four-year contract with retroactivity dating back to July 1, 2016.

Health care deductibles would be frozen at $200 for a single payer and $400 for a family. Biweekly health care premium shares would range from $40.25 for single coverage and $62.25 for family coverage in 2017-18 to $62.25 for single coverage and $85.25 for family coverage in 2019-20.

If a counter offer does come in this weekend, the turnaround could be a quick one.

“We have to get the offer so we can study it,” Scherer said, “but we’re hoping to be able to meet again within the first two weeks of February.”