A majority of teachers in the Steel Valley School District voted this afternoon to ratify a tentative contract agreement with the administration, setting up a final school board vote Thursday night.

Details of the agreement and length of the pact were not being released pending Thursday night’s meeting.

“We are not permitted to reveal any of that until the other side ratifies,” said Sue Salapa, a spokeswoman for the Steel Valley Education Association.

The vote breakdown also was not released.

“I feel hopeful that the school board will also ratify the agreement,” said Ms. Salapa, a seventh grade language arts teacher,

School board President Donna Kiefer said she wanted to wait until after the board vote to comment.

The 135 teachers, nurses and counselors represented by the association have been without a contract since Aug. 19. Marathon weekend talks headed off what would have been a strike this week in the 1,637-student district that includes Homestead, West Homestead and Munhall.

This afternoon’s meeting lasted about half an hour. The union had briefed members on the tentative deal yesterday that was hammered out Saturday night.

The district on Friday announced there would be no school Monday and likely for the week after being informed by the association earlier in the day that if an agreement was not reached over the weekend, it would strike.

The association went so as to announce plans to picket district buildings this week.

But a state mediator brought both sides together at the high school Saturday and a breakthrough was reached.

Last week, the union said it issued the weekend deadline because it was unable to move talks along. Some work has been accomplished but some two dozen issues remain unresolved from wages to travel times between building, association representative Kelly Compeau said Friday.