EDUCATION Sharpsville board, teachers to try once more at mediation

The teachers union president said the two sides are close to an agreement.
SHARPSVILLE, Pa. -- The Sharpsville Area School Board and its teachers will take one more shot at mediating their contract dispute before they go into fact-finding.
Mike Kalpich, president of the Sharpsville Area Education Association, said the state-appointed fact finder who is to hear their case suggested one more try at mediation, noting that the two sides were very close on the remaining issues.
The fact finder will oversee the mediation session, he said.
No specific date for the session has been scheduled, but Kalpich said it will likely occur within the next two weeks.
Under Act 88, the public employee bargaining law covering teachers, a fact finder has only 45 days from the time of his or her appointment to hear the two sides of the case and come up with a recommended settlement.
That means Sharpsville's fact finder must complete his work by April 26, Kalpich said.
If the mediation session doesn't result in a settlement, the fact finder has indicated he will proceed with the fact-finding process and adhere to the original timetable. That means he would possibly hear the case April 19, Kalpich said.
Under contract extension
The two sides have been negotiating since January 2003 and the teachers have been working the entire school term under an extension of their old agreement.
Only wages and health care remain to be resolved.
It was the school board, not the teachers, who requested fact-finding, Kalpich said, noting that teachers opposed the move, feeling that the two sides were very close to an agreement.
The teachers offered to go into binding arbitration but the school board declined, he said.