The first item on the agenda for the Northwestern Lehigh School Board Dec. 3 was reorganization.

Paul Fisher was elected president and Darryl Schafer will served as vice president.

Schafer said he had been president for three years and it was time for a change.

Fisher thanked the board for its support and listed some of Schafer's changes during his time as president, including making board member contacts paperless, changing committee structures, creating more transparency and keeping taxes level for three years.

Schafer will now be representative to the Region 8 Education Service Center.

In other matters, band members Abby Supplee, secretary; and Malinda Lingenfelter, treasurer, came to the board meeting to accept a certificate of appreciation for the band. They were accompanied by Shawn Fies, assistant director.

Superintendent Dr. Mary Anne Wright thanked employees for their fine work in the bad weather, saying they drove carefully during the recent storm.

"I'd have canceled school, if I had known how the weather was going to be," she said.

The offices fielded many phone calls from parents. Pizza was provided to students as they waited for buses.

And finally, Wright thanked parents for their support.

Schafer said Wright, Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Holman and Operations Director Arthur Oakes took students home in their private cars.

Board member Ron Morrison said there was concern in the ice storm but everyone got home safe.

In 2017, graduation project will be replaced by career seminars.

Changes to the program of studies were listed. One reason some students cannot get classes they want is because it does not fit their schedule.

Six business and technology classes did not get the required number of sign-ups and were removed. Future Career and Community Leaders sign-ups have skyrocketed.

Morrison asked why Programming 2 was removed. He said the class is important and he did not need Algebra in his business use.

High School Principal Aileen Yadush said the logic, not the math is important and there are ninth graders without room in their schedules.

Board member Greg Sanders asked if some of the courses could be cyber-taught.

The programs are not final until after scheduling, Wright explained.

Weisenberg Elementary Principal Jill Berlet and Northwestern Lehigh Elementary Principal Maria Pullo gave a presentation on student achievement on both the PSSAs and Student Performance Profiles.

The latter is dependent on factors such as attendance and passing grades, instead of just test scores. Both were satisfactory with the two schools having nearly identical scores.

The principals said they work together to try and improve. The strategic goal is for consistent implementation of an aligned curricula across all classrooms and grade levels.

Wright said they look for subjects that teach skills and knowledge, not just how to take a test.

A Career Link grant of $5,893 will allow students to visit manufacturing facilities in their field of study in the Lehigh Valley area.

The grant is a reimbursement program and must first be paid by the district.

The successful bidder for boiler repair was 3B Services with a bid of $6,730, but the district has already paid $7,000 for materials.

Approval was given for $1,675 for the science team to travel to Islip, N.Y. ,and $1,987 to go to New Haven, Conn., both from the student activities fund.

A budget overview was given with a resolution to stay within the index of 2.2 mills. The proposed final budget will be on the agenda each meeting until May with the final to be voted on in June.

The updated assessment will provide an extra $398,000 in revenue. The next purchase of vehicles will put the fleet back on a cycle for replacement.

Expenditures are closer to $41 million than to $40 million and revenue is at $39 million, but that will change.

The district is reviewing the past five-year budget to get assumptions for a no-tax-increase budget.

Board member Bill Dellicker said a no-tax-increase budget is unsustainable. Money had been put in fund balance and is now being used gradually.

Fisher said there were eight of nine years when the budgeted money was underspent and went into fund balance.

Morrison said the new governor promised to put more money into education but asked about PSERS.

PSERS is the school pension plan. Pensions are problematic at all levels of government, he said.

"It's not just our district," Morrison said. "The state will have to wake up and so something."

Half the required diesel and fuel oil are on contract. The board voted to put out bids locally for the second half, if it can withdraw from the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit consortium.

That bid will not be known until March.