Experiencing another stalemate in its negotiations for a new contract with the special education teachers, the Schuylkill County IU 29 School Board tabled action on approving the contract it believed was agreed upon in action taken at its monthly meeting held Monday evening at the Maple Avenue Campus in Norwegian Township.

The board was prepared to approve a contract it thought had been negotiated, but learned only over the weekend that the teachers had voted down the new deal. The teachers are working without a contract since last July.Over the past months, negotiating sessions, some lasting several hours, reached a stalemate. Last month a state mediator was brought in and it appeared an agreement was worked out.According to attorney James G. Caravan, solicitor for the board, the next action is for teachers to submit a proposal. The new negotiator for the board will be the law firm. At the meeting the board tabled the negotiations worked out by the state mediator.The Intermediate Unit 29 Education Association, to which the special ed teachers are members, released a statement claiming they rejected the package negotiated by the state mediator because it is less than the district and association had agreed upon in previous negotiations, and claim it is far more regressive than the settlement proposed by a fact finder which the board had rejected.Grievance filedThe board also took action to respond to a grievance filed by the teachers' association. It did not disclose the nature of the grievance only to state it was not related to the negotiations for a new contract.The board approved new hirings as follows:Joseph Chakan, Tamaqua, as a full-time technology support specialist effective July 1, at an annual salary of $38,500; Brittany Buchanan, Shenandoah, as full-time one-on-one behavior interventionist at the Maple Avenue Campus as requested by North Schuylkill School District at $24,000; Laura Hoppes as a part-time GED instructor at $25 per hour; and Matthew Butensky, as a part-time support specialist at a rate of $25 per hour.Hired to provide supplemental ESL tutoring to district English language learners as requested by parents during the summer were, Janet Rajchel, $28 per hour; Adele Wallace and Brett Reed, each $26 per hour; Jamie Rizzardi, $22 per hour; Kimberly Valentine, $21 per hour; and Lori Horst, $20 per hour.Hired to provide extended school year services to eligible students at Maple Avenue Campus were Charles Brayford, Andrew Schwalm, Maria Strawhorn, Abby Forney, Thomas Wood, Rochelle Angelo, Jim Lyden, Susan Oswald, Keith Mentzer, and Jessica Albon, at $25 per hour.Therapists hired to provide extended school year services to eligible students during the summer at $25 per hour were, Andrew Bucher and Tammy Falls, speech and language therapists; Amanda Moore, Valerie Stitzer, and Rini Wiest, certified occupational therapists; Tracy Downey, orientation and mobility; Kelly Erbe, teacher of the visually impaired; Gemma Haas, physical therapy assistant; and Pam Mattu, teacher of the hearing impaired in Saint Clair School District.Melissa McCartney, culinary arts instructor, is resigning effective May 31 as she is relocating in another area.The board announced it has vacancies in the positions of assistant principal and secretary.In hopes of adding more expertise to negotiating a contract with the special ed teachers the IU Board has hired the law firm of Sweet. Stevens. Katz and Williams, of New Britton, to act as the board's negotiator in future meetings with the teachers. The firm has expertise in contract negotiations and had represented the IU board in past contract negotiations with teachers. The same firm will also represent the board at the hearings on the grievance filed by the teachers against the board.