Parents pleaded with the School Committee to work with the teachers union end the standoff and settle the teachers contract as soon as possible.

“I want to know if the School Committee has dedicated itself and will define a time table to come to terms with this ridiculous dispute,” said parent Susan Kinnear at Monday’s School Committee meeting.

The dispute has put a pall over the Watertown schools, said parent Sarah Ryan.

“Because we have such great teachers we have a great community at the middle school,” Ryan said. “(Because of the contract dispute) it is subdued, we have lost some of that.”

Parent Jay Hughes said he and other parents are confused about why the contract has not been settled after more than 500 days. He wondered if the School Committee and the Watertown Education Association could tell the public what the what are the sticking points.

He added that he hopes that the stand off is settled soon so extra curricular activities, such as overnight field trips, are not threatened.

“I am worried that there is some potential of the (eighth-grade) trip to D.C. being cancelled,” Hughes said.

School Committee and WEA Response

School Committee Chairman Eileen Hsu-Balzer said the negotiation sessions with the WEA will begin soon.

“The School Committee also wishes to settle the contract expeditiously. … Settling the teachers contract is at the top of the School Committee’s agenda,” Hsu-Balzer said.

WEA President Debra King said she has heard a lot of support from parents.

When negotiations begin again, King said, it is possible the contract will be settled quickly.

“There is language in the contact we agreed on, that seems to be settled,” King said.

She said she could not discuss the specific sticking points in the negotiations, but King said the last proposal discussed by the two sides in December would have cost the town $1 million less than proposal rejected by the School Committee in April.

King said she hopes the Washington, D.C., trip could go ahead, but added that the union had warned of the possibility last year.

“Some of the (union) membership said ‘let’s not go on the D.C. trip,’ last year, but parents had already put deposits down and were scheduled to go so they decided they would go,” King said. “We said if it we haven’t settled the contract the teachers would not go field trips.”