Northampton Area School District could face a 10.11-percent increase to fund the Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School 2022-23 budget.

If approved by the NASD Board of Education, NASD would contribute $2,629,092 to the BAVTS 2022-23 budget, which is a $241,319, or a 10.11-percent, increase from $2,387,773, which was the NASD contribution to the BAVTS 2021-22 budget.

BAVTS Executive Director Adam S. Lazarchak made the budget presentation at the April 11 board of education meeting.

The BAVTS 2022-23 proposed budget is $13,848,288, which is an increase of $676,794, or 5.14 percent.

The contributing districts for BAVTS are NASD, Bethlehem Area School District and Saucon Valley School District. For the three districts, the increase required for the BAVTS 2022-23 budget totals $275,981, which is a 2.69-percent increase.

The funding formula determines each district’s annual contribution. The formula includes capital expenditures, which are prorated on a three-year average of market value, and majority of costs, which are prorated on the three-year average student count.

“This was the last year of your contribution to the debt service,” Lazarchak said.

BAVTS enrollment, which was 1,190 for 2020-21, has fluctuated, Lazarchak said.

“We’re down 200 students. We’re under 1,300. But it will be around 1,400. The applications are up from sending schools,” he said. “Our applications are up, so we may have to put them on a waiting list.”

The NASD enrollment average for the three school years, 2020-21, 2019-20 and 2018-19, was 301.

NASD enrollment in BAVTS was 324 for 2020-21, 306 in 2019-20, 273 in 2018-19, 269 in 2017-18, 271 in 2016-17 and 231 in 2015-16.

There were 23 seniors who received the BAVTS professional skills certificate, 11 of whom are Northampton Area High School students.

In his 12-page presentation, Lazarchak noted BAVTS has 26 unique programs.

“We run a lean operation - a lot of equipment we purchased through equipment grants,” Lazarchak said.

According to the presentation, BAVTS has:

• Transitioned underperforming programs into viable career programs

• Identified 21st-century skills for today’s and tomorrow’s workforce and hired support accordingly

• All levels of employment absorbing extra duties and responsibilities

• Provided flexible options according to districts’ needs

“We added a food truck, and we’re in the process of adding an electronic vehicle program. We added a welding lab, from 18 to 25, and we are at capacity. We’ve made sure we’re offering programs with high-priority manufacturing. Students can graduate and get out of vo-tech and earn $60,000,” Lazarchak added.

NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik noted a BAVTS satellite campus was on the secondary schools campus before the location of Northampton Area Middle School.

NASD students enrolled in BAVTS must travel to the Bethlehem campus from Northampton. The commute significantly cuts into student instruction time.

“Our students leave Northampton around 7:18 a.m. and return around 11:30 a.m., and then our p.m. classes go there,” Kovalchik said.

Kovalchik said he’s an advocate for an all-day vo-tech program.

The NASD website COVID-19 data dashboard seven-day building totals, April 7-13, as of April 13, are NAHS, 0, down from 2; NAMS, 2, no change; Borough Elementary Schools, 0, no change; Moore Elementary School, 2, down from 3; Lehigh Elementary School, 0, no change; George Wolf Elementary School, 0, no change; and district administration building, 0, no change.

The number of positive cases of COVID-19 in NASD for the 2021-22 school year to date is 1,146.

The board of education next meets 6:30 p.m. May 9 in the NAHS auditorium, 1619 Laubach Ave., Northampton.