Set to open next week, schools in six Rhode Island districts are still without teacher contracts — among a dozen districts still in negotiations.

Talks continue in all six districts: Cranston and Providence, where schools are scheduled to open on Tuesday, and Burrillville, Bristol-Warren, Johnston and Smithfield, where schools are set to open Wednesday. None appears headed toward a strike, but tensions are high in Burrillville, where a union spokesman said “not a lot of progress has been made.”

Last year, Burrillville was one of three communities — along with East Greenwich and Tiverton — to see teachers strike.

One district managed to come to an agreement this week. The 210 members of the Exeter-West Greenwich Teachers Association yesterday ratified a labor settlement that comprises two contracts — a one-year deal retroactive to Aug. 31, 2007, when the last contract expired, and a three-year deal to cover through August 2011.

John Leidecker, the lawyer for the union’s parent organization, the National Education Association Rhode Island, said he could not provide any details, such as salary increases or benefits, in the agreements until the School Committee takes its ratification vote, scheduled for Tuesday night.

Here are updates on the 12 districts currently without ratified teacher contracts:

Cranston

In Cranston, where the current three-year contract is set to expire Aug. 31, the school district and teachers’ union have exchanged proposals and are in the thick of negotiations. Raymond L. Votto Jr., chief operating officer for the school department, declined to comment on whether a deal is imminent.

The union membership is scheduled to convene Monday, the day before school opens. It is unclear what, if any, action the rank-and-file would take.

Providence

Representatives from the teachers’ union and the city met yesterday for hours, continuing talks that union president Steve Smith characterized as positive last week.

Meanwhile, Local 1033 of the Laborers’ International Union, representing almost 600 teacher assistants, recently signed a contract that calls for raises totaling 8.2 percent over 37 months. The contract, ratified late last month, is retroactive to June 1. The contract also calls for a total of 19 hours of professional training for teacher assistants, with 12 hours being paid by the union.

Bristol-Warren

In Bristol-Warren, the first day of school is Wednesday, and the existing three-year contract with the 302 members of the union expires Aug. 31. The next negotiating session isn’t until Sept. 3. District officials say the current contract will automatically roll over and stay in effect until a new agreement is in place. They are confident there won’t be any work stoppage.

Burrillville

A round of talks between the union and administration in late June produced no progress, and after an overnight bargaining session last weekend, the teachers’ spokesman, Thomas M. Landry, said he has no answer on what next week holds.

“I wish I could say we felt like we made some progress but unfortunately, not a lot was made,” Landry said.

He said school officials and representatives of the teachers’ union, a unit of the National Education Association, are scheduled to meet with a mediator tonight.

Johnston

School officials and union representatives have been bargaining the latter half of the summer. Though the negotiations continue, and the teachers’ existing contract expires Aug. 31, the school system’s attorney, William Conley, hopes the district can avoid any contract-related disruptions when school reopens next week.

“We certainly have no reason to believe there’s going to be a strike,” Conley said yesterday. “In these negotiations, nobody has said or done anything that would give any kind of signal to me that anybody has intentions of going on strike.”

A bargaining session was tentatively scheduled for last night.

Smithfield

Schools Supt. Robert M. O’Brien said he had engaged in contract talks until 4 a.m. yesterday. At 11 a.m., he said he was leaving work to go home and rest. “I can’t discuss sticking points,” he said.

But O’Brien said the sides are close and that negotiation sessions are set for the weekend. A mediator has been summoned to assist in the bargaining.

Little Compton

School is scheduled to open Sept. 2. Neither side will comment on negotiations. Earlier this month, the district was waiting for a mediator to be assigned.

Tiverton

Talks have resumed this week between the School Committee and the teachers’ union on a new agreement, a union official said yesterday. But it’s unclear just how close both sides are to settling the long-running labor dispute.

“We’re hopeful we will get to something,” said Kristen Destremps, vice president of the 200-member National Education Association–Tiverton. “We’re talking, so that’s a good thing.”

Destremps said the contract dispute won’t affect schoolchildren, who return to classes Sept. 2.

East Providence

Both sides sat down late last week to discuss the ground rules for the upcoming contract negotiations. But the next scheduled meeting, set for Monday, will be rescheduled so all parties can attend.

At least one person on each side has said they are optimistic. The current pact, which expires Oct. 31 and protects about 500 teachers, has been contentiously debated for the last few years. Some in the city believe the contract is a main cause of the School Department’s $3.2-million deficit.

Neither side would discuss specifics on and off the table.

School is set to open in East Providence on Sept. 3.

Newport

The next bargaining session between the Teachers Association of Newport and school negotiators will be Tuesday, according to Supt. John Ambrogi. He said that any decision about holding future meetings will be made then. The current three-year contract expires Aug. 31, with the union’s 221 teachers scheduled to return to school Sept. 2. “We’re still negotiating. Obviously, major issues in any contract are salary and benefits,” said Ambrogi, who declined to elaborate on the details of the talks or to characterize their progress. “I make no forecasts beyond what happens on Tuesday.”

Scituate

There is progress in Scituate, Ernest Marcure, a member of the School Committee’s negotiating team, said yesterday.

Marcure said that talks with the National Education Association Rhode Island, the union representing town teachers, have been “very cordial, very respectful and receptive.” He said the teachers have scheduled their own meeting Thursday, and added that he was optimistic that the union might vote to accept a contract at that point.

Marcure said the two sides met Monday, and plan to meet today and Wednesday.

Students are scheduled to report to school on Sept. 3.

Glocester

Neither side has been willing to comment on negotiations. Both sides are scheduled to meet next week. Schools are set to open Sept. 8.