The Whitehall-Coplay School Board discussed its 2015-16 calendar at its Feb. 23 committee meeting.

District Superintendent John Corby presented the board with a draft of his proposed calendar for the school year. The draft has teachers returning to the district Aug. 24 and students starting Sept. 8.

Corby said he made the choice to be consistent with the 2014-15 school year.

"We've been moving the starting date back and forth, before and after [Labor Day]," he said.

According to Corby, the last three years students have started before and after Labor Day.

Some members of the board were unhappy with the proposed calendar.

"We need to find what's better for the kids, teachers and administration," board President Tina Koren said.

Corby said other districts in the area, such as Parkland and Allentown, will begin classes after Labor Day.

The board decided not to make a decision because three members were absent including Arthur Taschler Jr., Robert Kolb and Eileen Abruzzi.

In other business, Rich Legath and Phil Bankos, of buildings and grounds, presented the board with an update on campus lighting.

Bankos said that the district is working with Facility Solutions Group to change the lights in areas around the campus.

The high school and middle school gym, the swimming pool and the exterior of the campus will have new lights installed that will save energy.

"We will see a lot of savings," Corby told the board.

The new lights are LED and will last longer than the current bulbs that are used, providing the district with money saving opportunities.

Also during the meeting, Brad Remig from Public Financial Management. presented the board with packets that illustrate the options associated with refinancing bonds for the district.

According to Corby, the packets were unavailable to the public because the numbers were used to illustrate the possible outcomes for refinancing the bonds and none of the actions have been approved yet.

The outcomes of the refinancing are expected to be available in April, according to Remig.