Farrell Area School District negotiators and representatives of the teachers union sat down for their first negotiating session Wednesday.

"I think we got off to a much better start than even we got off to last time," said newly christened Farrell Teachers Association President Karl Rupert.

Rupert was chief negotiator for the teachers in the last round of sessions, which culminated on Dec. 16 with the approval of a one-year contract.

The current contract is retroactive to July 1 and ends June 30.

The teachers are receiving an average 3.3 percent salary hike under the current contract, but failed to achieve an increase in the stipends for participation in extracurricular activities.

Rupert declined to discuss what issues the teachers are bringing to the bargaining table.

"I don't want to get everyone riled up this early in the morning," he said. "We just got done negotiating. The list of issues should be relatively short."

School board members said Monday they likely will not have a handle on what they can offer financially until a new budget is complete.

School administrators and department heads will submit their requests for the new budget soon, said business manager Michael Stabile.

Stabile said he hopes a budget can be adopted earlier than June 10.

This year's budget was approved June 10.

Former union president Ron Reed said he thinks a change in leadership will be good for the union.

"They're excited about being into it," he said. "I think they'll have a pretty good bargaining unit this time -- both sides."

The district's delegation is headed by solicitor James Nevant II and includes Jerome Flint, Edward Zappa, Joseph "Peppy" Costa and Michael Wright.

Negotiators set meetings for Feb. 6 and 20.