The Wednesday night Old Rochester Regional School Committee meeting had some unexpected guests when dozens of members from the teachers’ union sat on the sidelines with signs asking the Committee to “Come back to the bargaining table.”

Teachers from the Old Rochester Regional Professional Educators Association circled themselves around the meeting room in relative silence, using signs to express their opinions on the current contract negotiations: “Reasonable healthcare, realistic salary, respective process.”

Co-president of the union and history teacher with Old Rochester Regional High School, Colin Everett, said the purpose of coming to the meeting is to politely ask the Committee members to ensure the students continue to get a good education from the school.

“We want to encourage the School Committee to come back to the bargaining table,” Everett said. “We want to keep students the top priority.”

Chairman of the School Committee, Dr. Peter Bangs, said that the Committee does wish to finalize the contract negotiations as soon as possible for the students’ sake, as well as for the sake of the teachers.

“You say come back to the table but we have no intention of leaving the table,” Bangs said. “The last thing the School Committee wants is a wedge between the Committee and the teachers.”

The teachers’ three-year contracts expired last August though, the School Committee agreed to extend the contracts an extra 30 days through October for negotiations to continue.

Terri Dall, also co-president of the union, said that the teachers asked that the contracts be extended an additional 30 days through the end of November as well but the School Committee declined.

The teachers of Old Rochester Regional are continuing to work their normal school days despite having no current contract Dall said.

“The things that we do everyday don’t stop,” Dall said.

“We still meet with the kids after school, still fill out the college recommendations and still work with the after school clubs. It’s business as usual for us because it’s all about the kids.”

The School Committee petitioned the Division of Labor asking that a mediator be brought into the negotiations.

“We are as eager to complete negotiations as you are,” Bangs said to the union members. “We have sought mediation because we felt that the School Committee was not making progress and the tenor was becoming less than friendly.”

This, Dall said, is delaying the negotiations.

The deisre for a mediator is one-sided she said, adding that the teachers union had presented the School Committee with a few different offers for the contracts but this was put aside in favor of the Committee seeking a mediator.

“We are hoping to meet with the School Committee and the mediator or just with the School Committee soon,” Dall said. “All we want is a reasonable contract settlement soon.”

Dall said that both sides last met in November and while the search for a mediator continues, the next meeting between the two parties is still indefinite.

The teachers union has been present with their signs at the school during the mornings before classes begin, though Dall said the teachers felt they were not making much progress.

So, they brought their grievances to the School Committee meeting she said.

“In general we felt that the School Committee had not been respectful in their way of negotiating with us,” Dall said. “We’re trying to get heard and move past this.”

The ongoing negotiations with the Old Rochester Regional teachers come as the school prepares for the 2013 budget.

The Old Rochester Regional Budget Subcommittee presented the first draft of the 2013 plan to the School Committee members Wednesday, which requested an additional $495,000 to last year’s budget.

“This amount is to keep us in line with the services for education we have now,” White said.

The combined projected increases for health insurance and for the Plymouth County retirement assessment are $302,000 of the overall estimated budget increase of $495,000 White said.

Special Education costs are also on the rise with a projected $14,388 increase from the 2012 budget White said.

“This is just a draft, something we are working on readily,” White said. “We will have to make several chanegs to this draft before we are ready to present it in public meeting.”

The public hearing for the school’s budget is scheduled for March 5.

Though the teachers’ union has been present outside the school in their off-hours, Old Rochester Regional High School Principal Michael Devoll and Junior High School Principal Kevin Brogioli say that there is no tension between the staff members.

“The mood of the school has not changed,” Devoll said.

“When the kids ask me what the teachers are doing I just tell them it’s the teachers practicing their rights as citizens,” Brogioli said.

Superintendent Doug White said that the Committee and the teachers are continuing to negotiate the terms of their contracts with the school.

“We hope it will be resolved soon,” White said.