Change was in the air Dec. 6 when the Northampton Area School District Board of Education elected new officers, debated a revised meeting schedule for 2022 and voted to end a face-mask mandate Jan. 18, 2022.

School Director James Chuss, who represents Bath and Chapman boroughs and Moore Township, was unanimously elected board president, succeeding school Director David Gogel, board president for 12 years.

School Director John Becker, who represents Allen and Lehigh townships, was unanimously elected board vice president, succeeding school Director Chuck Frantz, board president for two years.

Taking the oath of office, administered by Denise A. Vilkauskas, NASD secretary to the superintendent, were Directors Kim Bretzik, appointed to succeed Chuck Longacre, who resigned, and was elected in the Nov. 2 general election to represent Bath, Chapman and Moore; Doug Vaughn, who defeated eight-year incumbent Roy Maranki and was elected to represent Allen and Lehigh; Ross Makary, re-elected to represent Northampton Borough and East Allen Township; and Frantz, re-elected to represent Northampton and East Allen.

School directors volunteered for committee appointments, which were approved by a unanimous board vote.

The board voted 6-3, with Bretzik, Vaughn and Director Robert Mentzell voting against, to change its 2022 meeting calendar, cutting meetings from twice monthly to once a month. Meetings will continue the second Monday, with a few exceptions, and will be held in the Northampton Area High School auditorium.

Meetings dates include Jan. 10, Feb. 14, March 14, April 11, May 9, June 13, July 18 (third Monday), Aug. 8, Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 14 and Dec. 5 (first Monday), 2022.

The board took the second vote following a 9-0 vote at the Dec. 6 meeting to reduce the number of meetings after as many as 10 residents, among an estimated 45 in the auditorium, objected to the meeting cutback during the public comment.

Vaughn made the motion, seconded by Bretzik, to take a second vote after NASD Solicitor Atty. C. Steven Miller said it was in order.

“I’d like to know how you justify that,” said Paul D. Nikisher, of Lehigh Township. “It sounds to me that you don’t want a lot of input from parents and grandparents.”

“Outside of removing transparency, what other reason do you have going to one meeting per month?” asked Steve Lynch, of Lehigh Township.

Several residents expressed concern that eliminating half of the school board meetings would cut public comment time in half. Public comment is 30 minutes per meeting. With two meetings per month, there was one hour of public comment per month. There would be 30 minutes per month in 2022.

“We will look into extending that time for public comment,” NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik said later in the meeting.

School directors voted 8-1, with Mentzell voting against, to end the NASD face-mask mandate in district buildings Jan. 18, 2022.

In a Nov. 8 news release, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf stated K-12 school mask requirement decisions will return to local leaders?Jan. 17, 2022.

The ending of the face-mask requirement in commonwealth school districts could happen sooner. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court was to consider the governor’s appeal of a lawsuit that overturned the face-mask mandate Dec. 8. It’s not known when the court will render a decision.

Kovalchik said he will notify parents and guardians of the revised 2021-22 health and safety plan, which can be read on the NASD website, nasdschools.org/article/600188.

There is a spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases in the district.

“The high school is a concern now,” Kovalchik said. “The department of health called me Saturday. They must have looked at our website.”

The district’s COVID-19 dashboard seven-day building totals, Nov. 30-Dec. 9, as of Dec. 6, are: NAHS, 62 (up from 17 the previous week); Northampton Area Middle School, 14 (up from 8); Borough Elementary Schools, 22 (up from 1); Moore Elementary School, 16 (up from 0); Lehigh Elementary School, 10 (up from 5); George Wolf Elementary School, 7 (down from 13); district administration building, 1 (up from 0).

Year-to-date NASD positive cases are 417. This number is up from 279 the previous week.

The NASD Board of Education next meets 6:30 p.m. Dec. 20 in the NAHS auditorium, 1619 Laubach Ave. Face masks are required, and personal items are checked at the entrance. Attendees must walk through a metal detector in the school lobby.