Expired contracts are piling up at Old Rochester Regional.

As the Junior High and High School teachers approach a full year without a settled contract, they are joined by secretaries, instructional assistants and custodians.

“We’ve been encouraging the School Committee to continue to negotiate during the summer and to use a private mediator,” said Colin Everett, President of the Old Rochester Regional Professional Educators Association. “They have not taken us up on that opportunity to our great disappointment. We really wanted to start school with a settled contract.”

The teacher’s contracts expired on October 31, 2011. Contract negotiations, however, have been ongoing since the fall of 2010, said Superintendent Doug White.

“A year without a contract is not good. We’re not any happier about it than they are,” said Peter Bangs, Chair of the ORR School Committee.

In January, teachers staged a silent protest at a committee meeting. Some held signs that read, “Reasonable health care, realistic salary, respectful process.”

With teachers working under the conditions of their old contract, Bangs said the major impasse still has to do with health insurance.

Rising health insurance costs and special education needs have hit the ORR budget hard.

For the 2013 budget, the committee requested a $495,000 increase to cover these costs and staffing costs.

The combined projected increases for health insurance and for the Plymouth County retirement assessment made up $302,000 of that amount.

To cover the increases, the committee had to make staff cuts last spring.

“The cost of health care is increasing more quickly than our budget,” said Bangs. “We lost nine positions last year due to budgetary issues.”

Custodians’ contracts expired at the end of June. Secretaries and instructional professionals will follow on August 31.

Since all three groups’ contracts are tied to the teachers’ health care, they too will be working without a contract until some headway is made in the negotiations.

“They don’t want to make concessions. We understand that. The School Committee feels we can’t make many changes, which is why we’ve asked for some outside help,” said Bangs.

Although a state-appointed mediator was brought in to help with negotiations last spring, both sides were dissatisfied with the service.

For the next step, the parties have requested a state fact finder to evaluate ORR’s finances. They may also bring in a private mediator.

Everett said, “It’s good for the school as a larger community to show that we can negotiate our way to an agreement, and to show the students that we are united behind a common goal, which is their education.”

White agreed.

“That we could continue to provide high quality education to the students is my ultimate goal. The biggest thing is to have both sides be amenable to an agreement,” White said.

Following the committee’s September 12 meeting, Bangs said he hopes negotiations, with or without a mediator, can resume.

And while each side may disagree about the opposite party’s willingness to negotiate, Everett said the teachers are trying to carry on with business as usual in the classroom.

Whether or not there will be a repeat of last fall’s silent protests is still a question.

“As the school year progresses, our frustration over the lack of a contract is there. How it manifests itself I don’t know,” said Everett. “Time will tell on that.”