PETERBOROUGH — Just two weeks after teachers began working to the contract — and with no new contract in sight — tensions between students, teachers and administrators have begun to surface.

Last year, an eight-week period of work to contract preceded a union and School Board agreement on a contract that was later voted down at the polls. This year, the job action followed the failure of negotiations and of mediation. It now appears certain that a contract will not be presented to voters in March, and leaders of the ConVal Education Association union have said the work-to-contract job action will continue until a new agreement is signed and funded.

In the face of a potentially yearlong work-to-contract, or work-to-rule, environment at ConVal schools, teachers and students across the district are hunkering down for a long haul. Under work to contract, teachers strictly follow the provisions of the most recently approved contract, the three-year agreement approved by voters in 2005.

The most immediate impacts of the job action involve contractual limitations on the length of a teacher’s workday. Teachers are paid for 7.25 hours per day, from 7:15 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the high school, or from 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at elementary schools. At the high school, teachers have begun gathering outside the building to enter as a group at 7:15 a.m. sharp, with similar gatherings at the end of the day. Before work to contract, teachers might arrive as early as 6:30 a.m. and stay until 5 p.m. or later.

“They really want to send a message about how hard they work and how much time we give away,” Micky Johnson, president of the CVEA, said Tuesday.

Johnson also recognized that the process is a painful one for everyone involved. According to Ken Cloutier, ConVal High School science teacher and union member, that’s the point.

“To a certain extent, the more the students feel it, the more the parents feel it and we get action in the community,” Cloutier said Tuesday. “The more it’s business as usual, the less support we get.”

When asked whether she is concerned that the job action might instead erode public support, said Johnson, who teaches at Greenfield Elementary. “We could do this every day of the year and it would be absolutely valid and ethical. I don’t have anything to say to someone who says I should work for free.”

Mike Wozmak, CVHS Social Studies teacher, said that although work to contract is difficult for teachers, the consequences of not quickly securing a contract are even more dire.

“This district is about to be in crisis,” said Wozmak, who said teacher compensation in the district is so disproportionate that a mass exodus of teachers seems imminent. “What am I supposed to do when I could go to Hillsborough and make $14,000 more?”

According to Kathy Hamon, chairwoman of the Math Department at CVHS, the problem is not just that teachers have not received annual 2 or 5 percent raises, but that they have not progressed in their “steps.” The step system refers to a salary schedule for teachers that pays them based on their experience. At its most basic, the step system pays an eight-year teacher at step eight, or a five-year teacher at step five.

Because the teachers’ contract is now three years overdue, and because the step system itself has changed since 2005, some teachers are as much as five steps behind, said Hamon. This makes it that much more appealing to move to a different district, said Hamon. Even if that district’s salary schedule were comparable to ConVal’s, a teacher could make many thousands more simply by being paid commensurate with his or her experience.

Johnson said a three- to five-year contract could be worded in such a way as to gradually return teachers to parity with surrounding districts. Negotiations for such contract stipulations with the School Board have been difficult, she said, but that’s the name of the game.

“It’s called ‘negotiating,’” she said. “It’s not called ‘everybody gets what they want.’”

“I can understand that people don’t want to support raises for teachers because nobody else is getting raises in this economy,” said Hamon. “We just want credit for our experience. That’s an entirely different thing than a raise.”

Hamon said ConVal pay schedules have made it difficult to hire new teachers. As head of the Math Department, Hamon had hired a new teacher last summer who broke the contract to leave the district for a job that paid $12,000 more. The second person to whom she offered the position declined in favor of a position in a district that paid $3,000 more.

“I’m lucky to have gotten a great teacher, but she doesn’t have any experience,” said Hamon.

Wozmak was less optimistic.

“The only teachers we’ll be able to hire are the ones that couldn’t get hired anywhere else,” said Wozmak.

“There’s nothing to keep them here, except some people are very loyal,” said Johnson, who feared the district would begin losing experienced teachers who had not yet reached the maximum step, yet who represent significant professional development investments by the district.

“We realize there are voters who don’t want tax increases and I can’t blame them,” said Cloutier. “But a good school is a benefit to the community.”

Students are also speaking out about the contract, although the mood has changed since hundreds of students coordinated a walkout in support of teachers last year.

“It seems like this time around they don’t have as much support, from the student body or the teacher body,” said senior Greg Yerkes, 18. “They don’t seem as gung-ho.”

“I think they’re more frustrated,” said senior Barbara Beblowski, 18.

More than 219 students have joined a Facebook group titled, “ConVal students for a new teacher’s contract.” Student comments on the site range from angry to concerned, and alternately indict teachers, the School Board and voters. Outside the high school Tuesday, even students who had not yet been impacted felt less secure about their options for additional help after school.

“If I were to be sick or something, and I need to get help, I can’t,” said sophomore Chad Echavarria, 16, who said students aren’t the only ones suffering. “I think the teachers deserve their contract.”

Senior Doug Carter, 17, disagreed.

“I don’t support teachers’ unions,” said Carter. “Some teachers outperform others by such a wide margin that they don’t deserve to be treated and paid the same. So I hope they don’t get a contract.”

Despite the obvious tensions, administrators say they are doing all they can to minimize scenarios that pit one group against any other.

CVHS Principal Susan Dell said she recognized the difficulty of work to contract and said her focus has been on pain management.

“Any work-to-rule situation is painful for everyone,” said Dell. “The thing that is most painful is that teachers want to do right by their kids. We’re trying to create an atmosphere where education can happen within the parameters of work-to-rule. They’re doing everything they can.”

Dell and Richard Dunning, principal of South Meadow School, said steps have been taken to adjust the daily schedule to allow for increased support. At SMS, popular after-school homework clubs no longer meet, but a free block in the middle of the day has been restructured to facilitate a similar service. Dell said no Individualized Education Plans have been altered and other essential services, such as college recommendation letters, have been a priority.

“I’m not aware of one incident when a student has not been able to get a letter,” said Dell. “We would never allow something that affects a student’s future to be neglected.”

Last year, an open house was canceled at the high school because of work to contract. This year, said Dell, staff has “traded” two paid weekly staff meetings so that one open house could take place.

Work to contract also has consequences outside of the district. Chester Bowles is the director of the Applied Technology Center, which coordinates vocational coursework between teachers and students at ConVal, Conant and Mascenic high schools.

“It’s awkward when you’re working with three schools and one of them has these issues and the others don’t,” said Bowles.

Union and School Board lawyers are currently working to secure the services of a fact-finder, a third-party consultant who will review the district’s situation and present a report. The report will constitute the preliminary outline of a teachers’ contract and will be presented to voters for approval.

The deliberative session is Feb. 3, making the inclusion of the report on the March warrant highly unlikely.

In this case, the district must petition the court for permission to hold a special meeting at such time as a report becomes available.

Union and board negotiators have also reserved the right to return to the table in an attempt to reach agreement.

In the meantime, Hamon said she has little faith that a contract will be signed any time soon. “I think hope is a better word than faith.”