In addition to approving contracts and paying bills when it met Sept. 21, the school board appointed Matthew Malozi to both the school district financing authority and the Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School financing authority. Malozi is replacing Herman Webber; his term on the district authority will expire in January 2026, and his term on the BAVTS authority will run until January 2023.

All nine members were present. Nearly all measures passed by a vote of 9-0; a measure to approve a memorandum of understanding for the United Way and AmeriCorps VISTA to provide support to Freemansburg and Thomas Jefferson elementary schools passed 8-0.

Freedom HS student representative Katie Marakovits informed the board that auditions are currently taking place for the musical “A Christmas Carol,” which will be recorded this fall, rather than viewed live. Marakovits is one of three Freedom students announced by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) as semifinalists on Sept. 9; the other two are Advay S. Deshmukh and Sebastian P. Jaskowski. More than 1.5 million high school juniors across the country take the qualifying exam; 16,000 students’ scores qualify them as semifinalists. NMSC will announce finalists in February 2021; scholarship winners will be selected from this group of 15,000 students.

Josh Lee provided an update from Liberty HS, noting that a 60-member subset of the renowned Grenadier Band will perform at Hurricane football games, but not parades, this year. The Liberty golf team is undefeated, and set an all-time East Penn Conference record of 349 (team score) at its most recent competition.

Cancer Crushers and the debate team have both canceled all events until further notice; National Honor Society members, although not required to contribute volunteer hours, are serving the community through food and clothing drives.

Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy reported that after the first three weeks of school, there have been no secondary attacks of COVID-19 traced to district schools. The positive cases also had very few school-related close contacts to report, due to the distancing set up throughout district buildings.

Board member Dean Donaher informed the board that Northampton Community College (NCC) is working on diversity, equity, and inclusion plans, as well as noting that Moody’s has rated NCC “A-1 (stable)” from a financial risk standpoint.

Board President Mike Faccinetto gave an update on the house project being undertaken by the students at the vo-tech. Students worked during the summer of 2019 and this past summer, experiencing construction work during higher temperatures and for longer shifts than are possible during the school year. The house is located in the Champion Court subdivision off Hecktown Road, and is scheduled for completion by next summer.

The Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 (IU20) has shifted to a hybrid schedule for all students except Colonial Academy, which is in-person five days a week. Board member Dr. Kim Shively noted that the hybrid schedule is a particular challenge for students in the autism support classes.

During the public comment forum, Matthew Kemp asked about education for students in eClassroom, which is a self-guided approach, with weekly teacher check-ins. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jack Silva clarified that students receiving the virtual component of the hybrid model receive synchronous instruction.

Board member Winston Alozie asked about support for parents helping their students with the online portion of hybrid education. Dr. Silva said parents should contact their children’s teachers directly for help with instructional material.