Striking Youngstown teachers take a break from the picket line. No deal was reached Wednesday, and negotiations were scheduled to resume today, the 23rd day of the work stoppage.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown City School District teachers and students will keep waiting to return to the classroom, as tensions remain high between the district and the Youngstown Education Association.

Relations have been contentious since before the union went on strike Aug. 23, when the school year was set to begin, but have deteriorated further in the three weeks since.

On Wednesday, they differed on whether YCSD had even presented a promised proposal.

At a board of education meeting Tuesday, board President Tiffany Patterson said the district’s negotiating team would present a settlement offer when talks resumed at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at East High School.

YEA spokesperson Jim Courim said negotiators did not present it.

“I honestly could not tell you why they were not prepared, as directed by the board,” Courim said. “The members want a quick resolution to this dispute. We just want to be back in our classrooms with our students.”

District spokesperson Stacey Quinones said Courim’s allegation that YCSD did not offer an agreement is “misleading at best.”

“The district continues to bargain in good faith and in compliance with labor laws,” she said.

Quinones said the district presented a proposal before Tuesday’s board meeting.

“Today, the YEA submitted a counterproposal, and then the district introduced an additional recommendation in the afternoon,” she said.

Courim maintained the offer Patterson referred to Tuesday never came.

On Monday, the union presented its offer, intended to address all remaining points of contention. The two sides had been discussing the details of that offer and the district’s counter proposals since.

Talks on Wednesday began just after noon and paused shortly before the YEA’s 4 p.m. membership meeting at Mill Creek Community Center. Courim said the meeting was an opportunity for YEA leadership to update members on the details of the week’s negotiations.

Talks between the union and the district resumed at 6:30 p.m. and continued until just after 8 p.m. No resolution was reached.

Last week, both sides said progress had been made on the issue of teacher transfers between buildings, but that they were still debating over the matter of raises.

The union has also repeatedly said contract language leftover from the state takeover of the district needs to be removed. They say the language may be misinterpreted to give Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor the same authority the state had provided to the CEO of the Academic Distress Commission that managed the district from 2012 until last July.

The district maintains the language cannot simply be removed.

The district has attacked Courim and the union for making what it said are unfair and inaccurate accusations. But as negotiations drag on, the public appears to be losing patience, and they largely appear to support the union.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, so many people spoke during the public comment portion the board extended the meeting by an hour. Most of the comments came from teachers, parents, and students criticizing the district.

On Wednesday, Batchelor was criticized on social media for allegedly sitting with his back to the audience for the entire meeting and not turning around even when a student directly addressed him.

Negotiations will resume today at 12:30 p.m. at East High School.

dpompili@vindy.com