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WPRO News and the Associated Press

The president of the Providence Teachers Union is urging members to skip a back-to-school ceremony amid an impasse in contract talks.

WPRI-TV reports that union President Maribeth Calabro-Reynolds sent an email to members on Sunday, asking them to avoid a convocation on Monday for teachers and administrators to kick off the school year.

School begins on Wednesday. Union officials say they don’t expect the contract disputes to disrupt the school year.

Superintendent of Providence Schools Susan Lusi said she is disappointed union leadership asked teachers to ditch convocation as a negotiation tactic.

“We’ve made real progress to move public education forward here in Providence and we’ll make sure we have a new contract that continues to do that and we look forward to welcoming our students and families on Wednesday,” said Lusi.

The teachers’ contract expires on Aug. 31. Calabro-Reynolds says the union and city officials have been negotiating for nine months, and undisclosed issues are holding up an agreement.

Calabro-Reynolds would not offer comment to WPRO due to the station boycott.