North Pocono Education Association and school district officials plan to meet Wednesday for a negotiation session both sides hope will lay the groundwork for avoiding a strike next week.
"We're still in the heart and in the meat of negotiations," said Paul Kowalski Jr., president of the school board.
The education association has set an April 18 strike date, and the last time district and union leaders met was in mid-March.
Jeanne Yazinski, president of the union, said district officials walked out of that meeting and canceled a session that had been scheduled for the next day.
Mr. Kowalski said district officials ended the session when both sides had reached an impasse. He said the second meeting had not been formally scheduled, and the idea had been that both sides would meet again the next day only if the first session was productive.
District and union leaders have sparred over health insurance costs and raises.
North Pocono teachers do not contribute toward health insurance premiums, but Ms. Yazinski said the union has submitted a premium sharing offer. She would not specify what percentage the union has offered to pay.
Mr. Kowalski said he would not comment on that proposal because it was "not a formal offer."
Ms. Yazinski said the education association has submitted another proposal that would save the district more than $100,000 per year by switching to a different prescription plan.
Although the union president feared district officials would not pass any of the savings along to her members, Mr. Kowalski said school leaders are still researching the idea.
Mr. Kowalski described the proposal as "a genuine offer" that "could provide savings to the district." If district officials go forward with the switch, he said the savings would be taken into account during negotiations.
Ms. Yazinski said she did not want to go into detail about proposed raises, but salary increases are an area that is "negotiable."
Asked if schools would be closed for the duration of a strike, Mr. Kowalski deferred to Superintendent Bryan McGraw, who could not be reached for comment.
Ms. Yazinski said labor law does not permit the district to use substitute teachers who have not worked for the district in the past year during a strike, and most of the existing substitutes to whom she has spoken have indicated they would not cross a picket line.
Contact the writer: kwind@timesshamrock.com