A nonbinding arbitration hearing involving the Palmerton Area School District and its teachers has been scheduled for June 28.

The hearing is the first step in the arbitration process between the two sides, which reached a stalemate in negotiating a new contract for professional staff.According to district officials, no new meetings will be scheduled before that date.Palmerton teachers have been without a contract since June 30, 2016, and went on strike earlier this year for 10 days.Following the strike, teachers, who had opposed fact-finding and nonbinding arbitration up to that point, agreed to the arbitration.The district initially proposed to eliminate a $12,000 jump step for teachers approaching the end of the salary scale, pay starting teachers $50,000 and give each teacher, regardless of years of experience, a 3.25 percent salary increase for each year of a four-year contract.Teachers have opposed the elimination of a traditional salary schedule.At the June 28 hearing, both sides will present a full package to an arbitrator who has been mutually agreed upon, Palmerton Superintendent Scot Engler said.The cost of the arbitration will be shared by the district and the union, he added.