Herald Staff Writer

Farrell Teachers Association continues to be frustrated with contract talks.

A negotiating session Thursday did not accomplish much, said Ron Reed, union president. Although the session lasted two hours, "We were planning for a long session," he said.

"We didn't have much progress."

"I guess, at some point, they must have thought we were finished and they went home," Reed said of the school board's negotiating team. "We ended up stopping."

Two issues have yet to be resolved, he said: salaries and an unnamed issue.

He said the unnamed issue "could be very easily resolved." As for salaries, "They're not moving," he said.

The teachers want to improve the base salary and what is paid for their participation in extracurricular activities.

"We're looking to be treated the same as the other teachers in the valley - no more, no less," Reed said. "Our job is just the same as theirs. We expect to be paid, like anyone else, appropriately." The next bargaining session will be Tuesday.

"We feel this meeting's critical because we want to resolve this impasse," Reed said. "After that, we'll have to go to our membership and see what our options are."

Board solicitor James Nevant II, the board's chief negotiator, could not be reached for comment. Board member Edward Zappa, who is on the negotiating committee, confirmed a meeting took place but deferred other comment to Nevant.

A mediator has been sitting in on recent bargaining sessions, which began in January. The 95-member teachers union has been working under an extension of the previous five-year contract since the pact ended June 30.