JOHNSTON — Teachers were a no-show on Monday at Winsor Hill School’s open house, an event where they typically meet parents and fill them in on their instructional plans, officials said yesterday.

School district lawyer William J. Conley confirmed the absence of teachers from the open house, but he said he couldn’t say if the apparent boycott was union-related.

“What message they were trying to send us by not participating is a question for them to answer,” Conley said.

The union’s leader, Kathleen P. Kandzierski, has not responded to repeated requests for comment on the union’s pursuit of a new contract in recent weeks.

Teachers’ unions throughout Rhode Island have occasionally boycotted open houses and other such after-hours activities during protracted contract struggles. Such boycotts can happen when union members decide to follow their contract to the letter.

The school district’s contract with the Johnston Federation of Teachers, representing 300 teachers, does not require attendance at open houses.

The contract, which expired Aug. 31, also does not mandate teacher attendance at certain school social events, including student dances, and it does not require teachers to provide remedial help to students after school.

Conley said he was not aware of any other types of boycotts this school year.

The schools superintendent, Margaret A. Iacovelli, could not be reached for comment.

An open house at Ferri Middle School was scheduled for last evening and the district was prepared once again for a boycott.

Conley said parents at Winsor Hill were greeted at the open house by school administrators.

The administrators, including school principals, did their best to help parents gather information on what their children face in school this year, he said.

“The best we can do is to have the administrators essentially continue to look out for the best interests of the parents and kids in the district,” he said, “and that’s what they did.”

The School Committee’s chairwoman, Janice Mele, said she attended Monday’s event.

“It was a nice open house,” she said.

She acknowledged that the open houses, by design, are supposed to give parents an opportunity to meet their children’s teachers.

“That’s what you go for,” she said.

In his reports on the tenor of contract talks between the federation and schools officials, Conley has said he has seen no indication of any union plans for a strike.

He said he would not make any assumption about what the boycott might signal.

The union’s leadership is scheduled to bargain with schools officials at 4 p.m. on Sept. 25 and at 3 p.m. on Sept. 29, Conley said.

mreynold@projo.com