Palmerton Area School District teachers began picketing this morning in front of the administration building, the first day of the strike in the district.

Families in the Palmerton Area School District were informed Sunday night that students didn’t have to report to school.The district made the announcement on its website,

www.palmerton.org, and said the 9 p.m. deadline would hold true for each day of the potential strike.Palmerton Area Education Association President Tom Smelas said no negotiations had been scheduled for Sunday as of 11 a.m., and that he would provide an update later in the day.The association is using its Facebook page,

https://www.facebook.com/Palmerton-Area-Education-Association-Negotiations-1319810551427057, to update the public.The current teachers contract in Palmerton expired on June 30, 2016, and both sides have been negotiating since February.Talks ended Friday night without a deal in place to stop the strike.Both sides issued statements on the session, with the association responding to a claim by the district that it walked away from the table without notifying the district.“The district’s bargaining team feels that it has fulfilled its pledge to the community, and that the fate of Palmerton student education this year is now solely in the hands of the teachers’ union,” it said in a release on its website.According to the district, the mediator suggested a salary matrix for the four-year deal on the table that “reduced/eliminated a $12,000 jump step, and more evenly distributed the money throughout the matrix.”“The district believes its current offer of raising the starting salary to $50,000, providing every member, regardless of years of service, a 3.25 percent increase for each year of the contract, and a $1,500 stipend