A three-hour meeting Tuesday night struck out as Hermitage school district officials and teachers met for a final negotiation session before Thursday's strike deadline.

"Unfortunately, after 15 months of bargaining and a three-hour meeting this evening, no resolution has been reached," district officials said in a statement this morning.

Last Friday the Hermitage Education Association gave notice that they would strike Thursday if no substantial movement was achieved.

"They really left us with absolutely no option," said sixth grade teacher Paul Estock, Hermitage Education Association chief negotiator. There are 165 teachers in the district.

The school will be shutdown Thursday for the duration of a strike if it does occur, according to Hermitage school board President Duane Piccirilli late Tuesday night. The strike could last seven days, according to Act 88, the state law covering contract negotiations.

The breakdown seemed to center around the definition of a fair wage, according to both sides.

"We gave them every opportunity, gave them the option to avoid a strike," said Estock. "We don't understand. If we can build stadiums and buildings that are above average, the teachers in the school district deserve an above average wage."

According to today's district statement, the district proposed a "fair economic package, including increased vision, dental and life insurance, continued hospitalization coverage at 100 percent paid by the district and an average $1,600/year increase in salary, for each of the three years in the proposed contract. The association has proposed a salary increase of $2,700/year in the average teacher salary. The district is limited by how much we can raise taxes with the new millage. We regret the action that the association feels that they need to take."

But Estock, speaking for the HEA, said the increase is below average for Mercer County. The county average, according to the PSEA was 3.8 percent for 2000-2001, 3.9 percent for 2001-2002, 3.8 percent for 2002-2003 and 2003-2004, and 4 percent for 2004-2005, according to settled contract negotiations in the county.

The three-year increase offered by the district is 3.3 percent, 3.1 percent and 2.9 percent.

The average Hermitage teacher's salary is $47,033 and the average starting teacher's salary is $31,976, according to board Vice President Timothy J. Ruffo, who is chairman of the district's negotiating committee.

"We're willing to move down," said Estock about the HEA's offer of $2,700 per year. "They were willing for us to move down, but they get to stay put. Basically they said this is our offer, take it or leave it."

When negotiations broke down, the HEA asked for fact finding, which, under Act 88, is when a third party comes in, researches the numbers and comes up with an arbitrary decision.

"Asking for a third party would have postponed a strike for several weeks," said Estock, adding that the board turned it down.

"Many times fact finding goes right down the middle, and in this case, right down the middle was way overboard," Piccirilli said.

The finding of fact is non-binding, but lends "a lot of credibility," said PSEA communications/organizing specialist Marcus D. Schlegel.

"It's their right to turn it down," Schlegel said but noted it's not the norm. "I don't know if they have enough experience in the process, or because they feel the fact-finding may not come out in their favor."

The board negotiators are Ruffo, James D. Lumpp and Jessie Hull, and the board president, who can sit in on all committees, according to board secretary Jan DeJulia.

"We feel the school district, the teachers and the students are all above average," said Estock, referring to the good scores the district recently received from the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests. "The increases that were offered to us were below average."