Members of the Highlands School District teachers union approved a new labor contract Monday. “We wanted to get back to school and back to our kids,� said Randy Rybak, president of the Highlands Education Association. Teachers who came to cast ballots at the Brackenridge American Legion declined comment. The Highlands school board will vote on the labor pact during a special meeting Wednesday. “We're hopeful,� said Matt Edgell, communication representative for the Pennsylvania State Education Association in Allegheny County. “We have to see what happens after Wednesday.� At least 50 percent plus one vote from teachers was needed to approve the contract. Rybak declined to release the final vote tally. If passed by the school board, the contract would take effect before the first day of school Sept. 6. If not, it's back to the drawing board, said Edgell, who has been acting as the teachers' spokesman during contract talks. Members of the union walked off their jobs in April after 16 months of negotiations failed to bring about a new contract. The strike lasted only four days because of the number of days remaining on the school calendar. The two sides agreed to nonbinding arbitration. The tentative contract is a result of that arbitration, Edgell said. Highlands Superintendent Michael Bjalobok said the tentative contract is not one of the “last, best and final offers� each side submitted prior to arbitration. In those offers, the district and its 191 teachers were $1,076 away from settling on pay raises over one of the proposed contracts. Those contract numbers were posted on the district's website in July. According to the salary proposals from each side, the teachers are seeking an average pay raise of $2,617 per year over a five-year contract term. The district has offered an average pay increase of $1,541 per year for the same period. Individual increases will likely vary from teacher to teacher depending on what step they are on in the district's salary scale. The disclosure of salary positions, along with health care proposals, are part of the state process for nonbinding arbitration. Normally, an arbiter would look at those proposals and choose one of them, but that is not quite how it unfolded in the Highlands situation. According to Bjalobok, the arbitrator basically said that if he chose one of those proposals, regardless of which, it would not be approved by one of the parties. “He said, ‘Why don't we do a little mediation first,' � Bjalobok said. “He said, ‘I want to get you within spitting distance of each other.' � “He pulled both sides in to get us closer and, when he felt he had gotten us closer, he picked one,� Bjalobok said. Rybak said the teachers were disappointed the arbiter didn't rule in the union's favor. The arbitrator's findings were released via email to the school district and the teachers union Friday, according to Edgell. The union presented the tentative contract to teachers Saturday, he said. Edgell said details of the contract are confidential and could not be revealed until both sides have approved it. Mary Ann Thomas and Tom Yerace are Tribune-Review staff writers. Staff writer Jodi Weigand contributed. Details Up next The Highlands School Board is scheduled to vote on the new teachers contract at a special meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the high school library. Email Newsletters TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.