A meeting has been set for 7 p.m. Monday between the negotiators for the school board and the Hermitage Education Association to start up talks again in hopes of settling a strike in the Hermitage school district.

"We called a meeting," Hermitage school board President Duane Piccirilli said Friday. "It's time."

"We're happy to resume negotiations," said Marcus D. Schlegel, communications/op-erating program specialist for the Pennsylvania State Education Association. speaking on behalf of the HEA.

The board met in an executive session Thursday evening and decided to meet again with the HEA in hopes of hammering out an agreement.

"Our request to meet was in response to Mr. Estock's offer in the paper to meet with us 24/7," said Piccirilli, referring to Paul Estock, the teachers' chief negotiator. "But we feel our offer is in the realm of settlement."

The board president also spoke to Schlegel's statement about "an automatic step increase."

"It's not an entitlement. It's negotiated. Every contract starts at zero. The step increments have been approved by the board," said Piccirilli.

The Hermitage teachers have been on strike since Thursday and, according to the state Department of Education, can stay on strike for up to seven days, according to a formula from Act 88, which covers contract negotiations.

If the strike extends the entire seven days, students will not go back to school until April 1, and the school year will extend to June 14 to reach the required 180 days, according to Hermitage schools Superintendent Karen Ionta.

Also factored into the 180-day equation is two Act 80 days taken earlier in the year that were invalidated because of the strike. Act 80 days -- which, for example, can be used as in-service days for teachers -- can only be counted as part of the 180 school days as long as there isn't a strike in that same school year.

"Its hard when we don't know how many days the strike will last," said Mrs. Ionta, referring to the last day of school and the strike's effect on graduation. "This is an area of absolute concern."

She is in the process of exploring ways to help the seniors who will be facing scheduling problems related to college orientations, summer classes, summer jobs, armed forces enlistment and graduation parties, among other plans.

A shortage of substitute teachers with the proper certifications and a lack of specific teaching certifications among the administrative staff prevent seniors from receiving instruction while the strike is going on, said Mrs. Ionta.

"There's also the argument, would substitutes even cross the picket line during a strike," the superintendent said.

She also looked into cyber services for the seniors, but that, too, did not pan out.

"We even checked with the Pennsylvania Department of Education to see if we (the administration) could get emergency certification, but they said that's not why they issue emergency certifications," said Mrs. Ionta.

At this time she had no answers about the graduation date or the actual last day of school.

"I will make every effort to solve this. I just feel sick about this," she said. "Everyone is concerned -- the teachers, the administrators, the board. That's why we have to try and get things going here."