Many of them donning signs with the message "On Strike," Palmerton Area School District teachers began a work stoppage Monday after nearly a year of negotiations with the school board.

At 8 a.m., around 110 teachers braved the cold air to stand their ground in support of a new contract. The group, having worked under an expired deal since June 30, met in the Palmerton park before walking across the street and around the district administration building on Fourth Street.Having issued a strike notice in October, teachers had been planning for the day to come, yet hoped it could be avoided."The mood is upbeat," Palmerton Area Education Association President Tom Smelas said Monday morning."We've been resolved to seeing this through. While we've worked hard to keep it from happening, we were prepared that this was a definite possibility."The first strike in Palmerton could last up to 10 days by law and Smelas said the association is waiting for the district to make the next move."The state mediator has thrown out several days for possible negotiating meetings," he said. "We're available any time."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 for attaining a master's degree is more favorable for both union membership and the taxpayers. The proposal would also reduce or eliminate a $12,000 jump step, the district said.According to the district, the association has asked for increases of 3 percent in the first year, 4 percent in the second and third years, and 5 percent in the fourth year of the contract.Meanwhile, the association said its proposal is actually $5,000 less than what the district is offering and would keep a salary schedule in use by over 500 Pennsylvania school districts."We costed out the proposals," Smelas said. "Our proposal is affordable, it's fair and involved no increase in taxpayer money. We don't understand why they are looking to abolish a salary schedule in use by 99 percent of school districts."Reaction mixedShortly after it was announced Sunday night that the strike would officially begin Monday, people began sharing their reaction on the Times News Facebook page."I would gladly work the hours they work and in the conditions they work in for the money they make now and the benefits they have," wrote Kay Phillips. "I would like to see the teachers work for less money in a physically demanding job out in the elements."Others supported the teachers."I am lucky to spend a full weekend day with my kids, I absolutely love my job and would not trade it for the world but in the end we should be compensated appropriately," wrote Kristine Fuller.Towamensing first-grade teacher Brittany Hunsicker took some of the comments to heart."My heart is broken due to the degrading comments about our teachers," Hunsicker wrote in a widely shared Facebook post. "We pour our hearts and tears into our job. Our job is our life."The hours of a teacher go far beyond the normal work day, she added, with nights consisting of lesson plans, grading tests, researching projects and activities for students and more."I spend hundreds of dollars throughout every school year buying back to school supplies, picking individual books for my kiddos for Christmas and end of year gifts, or even getting new classroom decorations to make them feel more at home," she added."I know that I am not contracted to pour my heart into my job, but I do it anyway because I love each and every one of my students. Some may say that by going on strike we are not thinking about the best interest of them. Although I am in support of us going on strike, it will be heartbreaking for all of our teachers because we do care about our students."No movement over the weekendAfter a negotiating session on Friday night, no further meetings took place over the weekend.Both sides issued statements on the Friday session, with the association responding to a claim by the district that it walked away from the table without notifying the district."We left the meeting and notified the mediator to contact us at any time if the district had additional offers," the association posted. "If the call doesn't come, sadly we will be the only union in history to strike for less money."Meanwhile in its latest update, the district said it is waiting on its educators."The district's bargaining team feels that is 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.A health care offering including a $350 deductible for a single individual and $700 for a family would be controlled by the Berks Trust, which the association said is a management/labor partnership and not controlled by the union. It is utilized by about 20 school districts.The district has said it is against the trust managing the health care plan, claiming it would lose the ability to bargain changes in the terms.The district put out a letter Thursday preparing the community for the potential strike.Palmerton schools will continue to be closed for its duration. School days missed due to the strike would be added to the school calendar to reach the required 180 days.Palmerton students who attend Carbon Career & Technical Institute, an Intermediate Unit program, or any other out-of-district program are continuing as scheduled.According to the letter, the district would "make every effort to keep extracurricular programs operating," and "all existing use of facility requests would be honored."No athletic events are on the schedule Monday. Middle school basketball and junior high and varsity wrestling teams have contests scheduled for Tuesday.