Palmerton Area School District teachers will be attending "Meet the Teacher" nights scheduled for the beginning of the 2017-18 school year after originally stating they would be delaying the events.

"Palmerton Area Education Association has decided to proceed with "Meet the Teacher" events," the teacher's union posted on social media Friday night. "We will be present at Meet the Teacher events at all schools. We look forward to meeting the parents and guardians of our students over the next few weeks."The announcement came two days after the union announced it would delay "Meet the Teacher" nights pending the outcome of contract negotiations with the district.A task force committee of 20 PAEA members representing all instructional buildings, the union stated, had made that decision."After much discussion one of the tough decisions made by this committee was to temporarily delay Meet the Teacher nights scheduled throughout the district until the contract issue is resolved," PAEA posted on Facebook on Aug. 23.According to the union, the district was informed of the decision on Aug. 9.The post was met with concern from many Palmerton parents."I, for one, am thoroughly disappointed in this decision," Christy Brotzman responded to the post. "This is affecting students and families. Meet the Teacher serves as a foundation for the school year - we, as parents, know what your expectations are and get a chance to put a face with a name. And this allows us to positively reinforce your expectations in the home. We all have heard over and over about how much the teachers want the parents to be involved in their children's education and now you are taking away a fundamental building block in that process."Tracey Hawk Andrews added, "I am very unhappy with this decision. As a parent of a fourth- and sixth-grade student, I look forward to Meet the Teacher Night to get a feel for what to expect for the coming year. Will this ever end?"Palmerton teachers have been without a contract since the previous version expired on June 30, 2016.The union responded to the comments on the original post, thanking the community for sharing its thoughts."All PAEA teachers are committed to your child's learning and success," the union posted. "We are the only educators in Carbon County without a contract and we deserve to be treated fairly like our colleagues in neighboring school districts."The district and PAEA attended an arbitration hearing on June 28 and both sides await a recommendation to be returned.