South Butler County schools will be closed today as district teachers go out on strike.

Contract talks between faculty and school board negotiators ended Friday night with no settlement.

South Butler teachers previously had announced their intention to walk off the job unless they had a new contract. In response, the school board had said that all schools would be closed today, no matter what the outcome of the talks.

A notice on the district's Web site, www.southbutler.k12.pa.us, says schools will be closed "until further notice."

Teachers spokesman Butch Santicola said picket lines would go up at the district campus, just west of Saxonburg, starting around 9 a.m. today.

No further talks are scheduled.

The teachers' previous agreement expired June 30, 2008. They went on strike on Oct. 23 last school year. They returned to their classrooms on Nov. 18, as required by state law, so that the district's 2,850 students could get 180 days of instruction by June 15.

If no agreement is reached, teachers can stay out this time until Oct. 6, and the district calculates that it still could meet the 180-day instruction deadline.

Under that scenario, school would restart Oct. 7.

Issues that remain to be resolved include wage increases and the length of the school day.

The South Butler County Education Association, which represents the teachers, is seeking salary increases of 4.3 percent per year and retention of the current school day.

Board negotiators have proposed wage increases starting at 2.03 percent, retroactive for the 2008-2009 school year, and rising to 4.34 percent in 2012-2013.

Under the district's plan, the school day would increase by 10 minutes.