District 87 teachers packed the halls of the district office Thursday as contract talks with a federal mediator began. (Adam Studzinski/WJBC)

By Adam Studzinski

BLOOMINGTON – District 87 and its teacher's union began contract talks Thursday with a federal mediator.

Contract negotiations have been ongoing since April 2014. The Bloomington Education Association has been working without a new contract since July 2014.

BEA president Rich Baldwin believed the two sides have gotten as far as they could without a third party.

"Our numbers were right in line with one another. Technically, we were under the offer that they had made and they rejected that offer," said Baldwin. "I'm not quite sure where the rub is at this point in time. Obviously, that's something that we'll find out tonight (Thursday)."

Baldwin was confident the mediator will be able to bring the sides into agreement, but he was not happy it's taken so long.

"There's no reason that it should have taken this long, but we're here and I'm happy that we're to the point where, hopefully, we're going to get a resolution," he said.

Teachers packed the halls of the district office as mediations began. Baldwin said he's proud of how much support the teachers have show throughout this process.

"We've attended probably three different board meetings and we've had between 60 and 100 when we've done that," said Baldwin. "We do days in our schools when we wear BEA colors. We have get-togethers in those buildings."

Three mediation sessions are scheduled, but Baldwin was hopeful an agreement would be reached Thursday night.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].