In a tense moment that led to three Jim Thorpe Area School District board members storming out of Monday night's meeting, the board voted 5-3 to accept and send a proposed teachers contract to the Jim Thorpe Education Association.

The matter was not on the agenda and seemed to shock several board members when Dennis McGinley, board president, made the motion to kick off the meeting.Voting for the contract were McGinley, William Allison, John Ciavarella, Dr. Michael Principe and Gerald Strubinger.Robert Schaninger, Walter Schulz and Glenn Confer voted down the contract and Pearl Downs-Sheckler abstained.Superintendent Brian Gasper said details of the contract could not be released as the JTEA has yet to ratify the deal, which it can do if two-thirds of its members give approval.JTEA President Dave Marino did not immediately return a request for comment.Following that vote and another to tell the attorney negotiating for the contract for the board, Paul Blunt, that his services are no longer needed, Schaninger, Schulz and Confer were infuriated and left the meeting."Call me when you get your (expletive) together," Confer said as he walked out.Schulz said he thought Blunt was a good negotiator and doesn't think he or other board members can negotiate on their own."I don't know school law," Schulz said in comments directed at McGinley. "You've undermined the whole process. You did everything behind our backs. This is an injustice."Equally upset, Schaninger said negotiations with the teachers had never happened like this in the past."Before they would just come in and get their 4 percent," he said. "Now we are paying 21 percent toward pension. The teachers never once said, 'Hey, you're paying 21 percent toward pension so let's figure that into what we're asking for wages.'"Before leaving, Schaninger also pointed the finger at McGinley."You had no right to do this and yet you did it," he said. "You have deeply screwed the whole district."Jim Thorpe teachers have been without a contract since June 30, 2013.Wages, health benefits, a prescription plan, credit and textbook reimbursement, sick leave, retirement incentives and benefits were among the items being negotiated.McGinley said another board member, who he would not name, asked him to call for the motion."I asked them why they didn't have the gumption to do it and they said I was the board president and speak for the board," McGinley said. "On behalf of myself, I would like to apologize for how this was handled here tonight. For the students who had to witness it, I apologize. It was very humiliating."Before McGinley made his comments, Laura McArdle, a teacher at L.B. Morris Elementary School blasted the board's conduct."I'm speaking as a parent, not a teacher," she said. "As a parent, we are held to a standard on how we act and talk in public. There are students at this meeting and some of you have made fools of yourselves. You're acting like a bunch of animals."Beyond saying the matter was now in the hands of the JTEA, Gasper said he didn't have much of a comment on the issue."There are clearly differing views," he said.