Dec 9, 2015 3 min read

Peters Township School District will make every effort to keep school open when it snows but said it will respect a parent’s decision to keep a child at home because of inclement weather.

“We are going to have to be tighter on our weather decisions this winter,” said Jeannine French, district superintendent. “We will respect parents’ decisions regarding the safety of their children. We will be as permissive as possible regarding these absences.”

Since its 4,300 students returned to classes Nov. 27, following a 21-day teachers strike, the district has been tweaking its calendar. Earlier this week, the district said it will be giving students a winter break so they can spend time with their families during the holidays, something that was not initially planned when classes resumed. Staff and students will now be off Dec. 24 through Jan. 1. School for students will resume Monday, Jan. 4.

But in order to give students and employees a winter break, the last day of school has been pushed back a week to June 22. Seniors will still graduate as scheduled June 10, but will now have to complete five additional days of school from June 13 to 17 to meet the required days and hours of instruction and graduation.

By law, schools must provide 180 days of instruction. If the district is forced to close schools because of weather conditions, then the missed day will be tacked on to the end. In most cases of bad weather, however, French said a two-hour delay would be called.

Meanwhile, the district has tapped its solicitor, Gretchen Love, to represent it during the nonbinding arbitration process with Peters Township Federation of Teachers. The union will be represented by Paul Homer, a representative of Peters Local 3431 of the American Federation of Teachers. A neutral third party, selected from a list provided by the American Arbitration Association, has yet to be named, Homer said.

Within 10 days of the selection of the panel, hearings must be scheduled to receive final and best offers from the two sides. The panel must then issue a written decision within 20 days after the completion of the evidentiary hearings.

The major issues between the two sides are salaries and health-care costs. Before their walkout, the teachers had been working without a contract since school began Aug. 31.

The nonbinding arbitration process – once it begins – is expected to take 60 days to complete. If the nonbinding arbitration process fails to bring about a contract between the two sides, then a second strike could take place, possibly in the spring.