EAST PROVIDENCE — The contract for the city’s about 500 teachers expires today, creating the possibility of a teacher strike Monday.

Further mediated negotiations between the school district and local teachers union were canceled after a session concluded late Wednesday night.

“We were unable to come to an agreement,” confirmed Jeanette Woolley, who is a negotiator for the East Providence Education Association. “Obviously, the membership has to be informed of the situation and we’ll do that Sunday.”

The weekend meeting at noon in the East Providence High School auditorium will determine the next step the teachers will take. Woolley would not comment about a potential strike.

“If they strike, we’ll be in court, and they’ll go back to work in a day or two or they’ll get arrested,” School Committee member Anthony Carcieri said yesterday. “What else are we going to do? There’s no money and they’ve been living large for a long time, and now we can’t afford it.”

East Providence has a growing $4.2-million school deficit and the district recently filed a Caruolo action lawsuit against the city because it said the City Council didn’t provide enough money.

Carcieri said the district needs $3 million in annual concessions from the teachers and suggested over the last two weeks of meetings that the union could get to that amount with minimum or no salary increases, health insurance cost contributions, and the elimination of a current contract provision that allows teachers to receive up to $5,100 if they choose not to take coverage under the school’s health-insurance plan.

The union’s counteroffer was about $1 million in annual concessions, Carcieri said. Woolley said Carcieri’s “math is wrong” and she didn’t want the specifics of their offer made public before the teachers are told.

“They came back and said we hit on everything you asked for, but it was only a little pinch on every one of the [factors],” he said. “Well, we can’t do it. We must have $3 million and that’s not a bluff. We need that to get over to the other side.”

The two sides are working on setting dates for arbitration. A neutral arbitrator, Mike Ryan, of the American Arbitration Association and a Maine resident, has already been selected.

apina@projo.com