Letter becomes sticking point in Crestwood contract dispute.

Byline: Mark Guydish

Jun. 18--WRIGHT TWP. -- A teachers union official has penned a letter denying that any Crestwood teachers have resigned, but the school board president and solicitor aren't buying it, sticking to their argument that an earlier letter signaled a mass resignation in the midst of bitter contract dispute.

Pennsylvania State Education Association Northeast Region Representative John Holland sent a letter Friday to school board Solicitor Jack Dean saying "I want to make it perfectly clear that no member of the Crestwood Education Association has resigned from their position."

Holland referred to a June 14 letter to Superintendent Richard Duffy from Crestwood union President Joseph Chmiola Jr. In that letter, Chmiola noted the union has worked without a contract since 2002 and said that without a new contract "we will be unwilling to work the 2005-2006 school year."

On Thursday, school board President Bill Jones and Solicitor Jack Dean …