Teachers from the Hanaford Elementary School walk along Middle Road.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

EAST GREENWICH - An attorney for the East Greenwich School Committee went to the Kent County Superior Court this morning to ask a judge to end a three-day teachers strike.

Richard Ackerman said he plans to ask Judge Jeffrey A. Lanphear for a hearing “as soon as possible,” hopefully this afternoon, and request that an injunction be granted, compelling the East Greenwich teachers to return to school.

As of 11:20 p.m. last night, the School Committee and union representatives had not come to an agreement on the teachers contract. The key issues are salaries and health care benefits. The union represents 235 teachers, who have been on strike since Tuesday.

East Greenwich is one of Rhode Island's weathiest communities.

"We asked the teachers to come back to work and they refused and so that's where we are at,'' Meyers said last night. "We are still negotiating now. The mediator has not dismissed us."

Negotiators for the School Department and the teachers union returned to the bargaining table yesterday afternoon.

“If we don’t leave the meeting with the teachers going back to work, then the district will have no choice but to go to court” in search of a back-to-work order, Schools Supt. Charles E. Myers said yesterday morning.

“This is a last-ditch effort,” Meyers said of the evening bargaining session, assisted by a state mediator, that was expected to extend into the early-morning hours. All seven School Committee members showed up for the session. Two board members are on the bargaining team.

“We will all be there ready to do the work. We are ready to stay the night if that’s what it takes,” commented Donna Hayes, co-president of the 235-member East Greenwich Education Association. “We are hoping the School Committee makes the movement that they need to so we can back [today]. We want to be teaching, we want to be with the kids."

If the School Department does to go court, “we’ll be prepared for that, but it’s my hope that we reach an agreement,” said Jane Argentieri, assistant executive director of National Education Association Rhode Island, parent organization of the East Greenwich union,

Rhode Island law forbids strikes by public school teachers, but the state Supreme Court has stipulated that a judge must hold a hearing before deciding on a request for a back-to-work order.

When the negotiating teams arrived at East Greenwich High School yesterday for the 5 p.m. start of talks, they were met by more than 100 teachers, some carrying small children, marching at the school entrance off Middle Road.

The union’s old contract expired Friday. The unresolved issues, aside from salaries, include the school board’s proposal to double, to 20 percent, the share of health coverage premiums that top-scale teachers must pay.

In the fall of 2004, the town’s teachers reported to their schools despite the lack of a contract. An agreement was not reached until a year later; until then teachers expressed their displeasure by working to rule — doing no more than the terms of their old contract provided.

That wasn’t fun, said Robert Robberson, a physical education teacher at Eldredge Elementary School, recalled as he picketed the school yesterday morning.

“Things didn’t go in our favor last time. It was tough, work to rule, we had to follow contract compliance,” Robberson said. “I feel stronger that the teachers are more united. We are just real optimistic that something will get settled [tonight].”

Before going into the high school yesterday afternoon, some School Committee members said they were upset about a letter, highly critical of the board, that the union mailed to all residents this week. (The text of the letter appears on D4.)

“We both agreed to face-to-face negotiations. Shame on them,” said School Committee member Anne Palumbo, who is on the negotiating team. “It’s discouraging and a wedge in the conversation.”

Board member Jean Ann Guliano, also a bargaining team member, said she hoped to keep the dispute out of court.

“We are definitely trying to take the high road. We are going to ask them to come back. Our kids need to get back,” she said.

lsparks@projo.com