CONTRACT TALKS Board OKs report from fact finder

Another negotiating session is set for May 11.
SHARPSVILLE, Pa. -- The Sharpsville Area Education Association and the school board are one step closer to a new contract.
School board members agreed Monday in a 7-1 vote to accept a state fact finder's report. The report came from a state appointed fact finder and the details of the agreement have not been released.
Superintendent Derry Stufft said the agreement dealt with salaries and benefits. He said the details cannot be released until the entire contract is approved by both teachers and the school board. Stufft said there are issues not addressed in the fact finder's report and now teachers and the school board must go back to negotiations. The next scheduled negotiation is set for next Tuesday, he said.
Teachers approved the fact finder's report last week in a 65-3 vote. There are 82 teachers in the union.
They have been working on a contract since January 2003. Teachers have worked nearly the entire school year under an extension of their old agreement.