Negotiations continue between the Pleasant Valley School District and the Pleasant Valley Education Association.

The teachers union officially notified the school district in December that they plan to strike on Feb. 28 if a contract agreement cannot be met. The teachers have been working without a contract since June 2021.

Mark Fitzgerald, the solicitor for the school district, said a bargaining session was held Wednesday night at the administrative offices.

“We felt that it was a productive session,” Fitzgerald said at the school board meeting on Thursday. “Multiple sessions are scheduled over the next several weeks with them, in the hopes of getting to a collective bargaining agreement. As the board knows and a reminder to the community, negotiations have been relatively stalled recently in part due to transition on the board and the like, so we have reengaged with them. Last night was the first step and we look forward to productive sessions in the near future.”

Representatives from the district and PVEA will meet again today.

Drew Dymond, the president of PVEA, said that in addition to today’s meeting, they also will be meeting with the district on Feb. 9, 11 and 25.

“The meeting last Wednesday took on a more standard progression than we have had in the past year, and it was a good first step in the bargaining process,” Dymond said. “We look forward to our next meetings with the district.”

At the school board meeting in December, Dymond told the school board that the PVEA hopes to avoid a strike.

“Now, it is our hope a strike will not come to fruition and we can put the focus back on our students,” he said. “We are optimistic about working with the board’s new negotiation team and our new permanent superintendent. Our team looks forward to negotiating a fair and reasonable contract.”

Avoiding a strike is something 11th-grade student Dominic Roberti also wants. During the public comment portion of the school board meeting, he said a strike will affect many people, especially the students.

“They cannot go on strike. You need to negotiate with them. The fact that they were given no contract already is a joke,” he said. “It’s causing stress on everyone. It’s causing stress on the teachers, which is causing stress on the students.

Roberti said he is concerned that a strike will lengthen the school year.

“I don’t want to be here until June 30. I’m pretty sure that these people (the teachers in the audience) don’t want to be here until June 30,” he said. “I find it kind of ridiculous how little has been done about this problem.”

Roberti said he thinks it is the most important issue that needs to be addressed. He thinks the teachers need better pay and better health care.

“Give the teachers what they need, please. Even a student is begging you,” he said. “Please do something about it because nobody else can.”