JACKSON TWP — The Seneca Valley Education Association will not participate in a public forum to discuss contract negotiations with the school board.

The board Monday made the offer for the session to be held on Sept. 6.

Butch Santicola, spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said the offer was rejected this morning. A formal news release that Santicola said would be issued was not received by press time.

The forum is intended to give the community a firsthand account of the negotiations, which now hinge on teacher salaries, health care benefits and contributions, and early retirement incentives.

The 580-member union this month authorized a strike after twice rejecting a state-appointed fact-finder's report. The school board also rejected the report, which would have become a temporary contract if accepted by both sides.

Negotiations will continue under a mediator appointed by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

Teachers have been working without a contract since the previous five-year agreement expired in June 2006. The two sides are about $5 million apart on salaries over five years.

If the union chooses to strike, it must give the district 48 hours notice.

District officials have said all athletics and extracurricular activities would go on as scheduled and any agreements for use of district facilities would be honored.

Had the teachers accepted the invitation, a "mutually agreeable" moderator would have been chosen, said Tom King, chief negotiator for the district.

The forum will go on without the teachers union being present.

Question cards will be distributed before the forum begins for the public to submit their questions to a moderator, who will choose and read selected questions following the presentation, King said.

While he was negotiating a new contract for the Franklin School District in Venango County, King said, a similar forum was held. While the teachers did not participate, he said, the evening went well.