Sharon teachers reach tentative agreement

SHARON, Pa. -- Teachers in the Sharon City School District have reached tentative agreement on a new contract.
The district and its 198 teachers have been negotiating since February and made use of both a state mediator and a state fact finder before hammering out an agreement over the weekend. The teachers have been working under an extension of their old contract which expired June 30.
Details of the new pact haven't been revealed and the two sides are expected to take ratification votes in December.
Meanwhile, the status of teacher talks in neighboring Farrell Area School District are improving.
Ronald Reed, president of the teachers union, the Farrell Teachers Association, said a bargaining session Tuesday night ended on a positive note and the two sides are getting close to an agreement.
That's good news based on a bargaining session Thursday that officials said produced no results.
Farrell's 95 teachers had taken an informal strike vote but Reed said the negotiating team didn't feel talks had reached the stage where a strike was a possibility.
Farrell has been using the services of a state mediator to try to work out an agreement. Like Sharon, Farrell teachers have been working under an extension of their old contract since June 30. Talks began in February.
Reed said the two sides won't meet again for a couple of weeks. No specific date has been set.