There was reunion, review and even a little Wiffle Ball yesterday as students in the South Butler County School District returned to class after more than three weeks of a teacher strike.

With the school district and the teachers union far apart on issues of salary and health care benefits, about 180 teachers in the district went on strike on Oct. 23.

The parties made little progress in negotiations during the strike, and will now proceed to mandatory nonbinding arbitration.

Todd O'Shell, administrative assistant for the school district, said that despite all the commotion surrounding the strike, yesterday was a fairly routine school day. "It was nice to see the kids back, the students back, the buses running, and getting back to what we do best here, and that's educating students."

Senior Emily Sale of Saxonburg described the school day yesterday as "half review, half teaching."

She and other students are now focused on changes to the school calendar, which was adjusted to compensate for time lost during the strike. Students now have shorter winter and spring breaks and will stay in school through June 15.

"It will feel like we're in school forever," she said.

In a tactic learned perhaps from watching their teachers on the picket line, a group of about 30 students held a protest outside rather than going to their first period classes on time.

Playing Wiffle Ball and grilling hot dogs and hamburgers in 30-degree weather, the students said that they were expressing their opposition to the strike that disrupted their senior year.

"They strike, we strike," said Tayler Merhaut, a junior from Saxonburg.

"We got no vacation ... for the teachers to get more money," said senior Tad Selfridge.

Mr. O'Shell said that he didn't know yet whether the students would be disciplined.

He estimated that the arbitration process will take 60 days, though he said that the time could be shorter or longer.