After months of contract negotiations between the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education (BOE) and the teachers’s union, Princeton Regional Education Association (PREA), both sides failed to reach a long-hoped for agreement Monday night. Talks broke down after almost five hours in which the two sides met face-to-face without the help of state mediator Kathleen Vogt.

Princeton’s public school teachers have been working under an expired contract since July 1, 2014. Ms. Vogt was called last fall after negotiations reached an impasse. PREA members walked out of an October 2 meeting.

If no agreement can be made in mediation, the next stage of negotiations would call for a fact finder. The expertise of Ms. Vogt, who helped the district and the union deliver the 2011-14 contract, has been provided at no cost to the district or to the union. A fact finder, however, could cost approximately $1,500 per day.

At the BOE’s monthly meeting in February, Board President Andrea Spalla pointed out that the fact-finding process could take anywhere between six and twelve months and the daily cost would be split between the district and PREA.

Negotiations have stalled repeatedly over the issues of health care costs, and after Monday’s meeting, chair of the PREA Negotiations Team John J. Baxter said in a statement to Town Topics: “The Board came into the session with a counter proposal that was essentially unchanged from April 15. They made clear that they would not negotiate Tier 4 premium contributions.

“Ultimately, they [the BOE] came back with a ‘framework’ that appeared to require further devaluation of salaries, for some, and created substantial inequities for many. They were unable to provide specifics or reasonable explanations of the numbers. Nevertheless, they insisted that we come up with a counter proposal,” said Mr. Baxter. “We explained that we would not respond to a ‘conceptual framework’ the implementation of which raised serious questions even they could not answer. In other words, it was impossible to assess what was being offered.”

At this point, it will be up to Ms. Vogt to determine whether a fact finder is to be brought in to try to bring the two sides to resolution.

According to Mr. Baxter, the Board’s position together with the long history of these negotiations, leaves “no viable alternative to fact finding.”

This, at least, may be one point on which the two sides concur. “It is my understanding that the next step will be for the mediator to determine whether to send the matter to the fact-finding stage,” said Ms. Spalla. “Although the board offered the PREA a chance to meet again for a face to face working session on the issues surrounding the salary guide, the PREA ultimately did not agree to another meeting,” she said.

The district and the union have have met face-to-face four times in recent weeks.

The failure of the long drawn out negotiations has provoked anger and sadness on the part of numerous parents, teachers, and district students in recent months who have appeared at Board meetings to express their concerns and to beg both sides to compromise.

PREA members ceased to donate their time to non-paid extra-curricular activities and volunteer work. The action has affected some after-school student clubs and student trips, activities to which teachers’ contribute their own time as opposed to activities for which they get paid.