On the first day of the 2022-23 school year, Northampton Area School District Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik observed “a smooth opening” from his vantage point at the secondary campus off Laubach Avenue.

“I was at the secondary school campus in the morning. I had the opportunity to visit some elementary schools, as well, in the morning. And I went back out in the afternoon,” Kovalchik said of the Aug. 29 opening day. “For the first time in over two-and-a-half years, we came back to some kind of normalcy.”

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, face-mask mandates were in effect in fall 2021 for the start of the 2021-22 NASD school year. In 2020-21, the school year was a hybrid of classroom instruction and remote learning.

This year was different for the district’s estimated 5,400 students and 620 professional, administration and support staff.

This year was normal.

Face masks were off, including for students on school buses traversing the 97.3-square-mile district that includes Bath, Chapman and Northampton boroughs and Allen, East Allen, Lehigh and Moore townships.

Classes were back for in-person teaching. Fall sports were underway. The Big N Band was practicing. And the Konkrete Kids varsity football team was coming off its Aug. 26 home conference game opener with a 50-8 win over Pocono Mountain West at Al Erdosy Memorial Stadium.

“People want routine,” Kovalchik said at the end of opening day. “They want their student to receive their academics face to face. They want them to participate in extracurricular activities. And they want them to socialize with their peers.”

He said he saw a lot of happy parents and received positive input from parents and staff members.

Meanwhile, Kovalchik is keeping an eye on the proposed new elementary school and education center on the Route 329 property.

The NASD Board of Education will be asked to give guidance to the administration concerning the upcoming Act 34 public hearing at its next meeting, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 12 in the Northampton Area High School auditorium, 1619 Laubach Ave.

Act 34 hearings are mandated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for new school and school renovation projects.

It was announced at the Aug. 8 school board meeting the Act 34 hearing on the Route 329 project is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 10 in the Northampton Area Middle School cafeteria, 1617 Laubach Ave., Northampton.

The Route 329 elementary school/land development project in East Allen Township was given a seven-page review by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission after the regional agency’s Aug. 23 comprehensive planning committee meeting and full commission meeting Aug. 25. The meetings were held virtually.

The LVPC review was based on plans submitted June 10. LVPC review letters are advisory and not binding.

The review was critical of the location of the playground at the proposed elementary school for the Route 329 project.

“The current proposed location for the school playground is in the middle of the school bus parking lot with the access road running along the east and northern sections of the play area,” the review said.

A diagram of the playground location is included in the review letter.

“The LVPC recommends that the playground design location be relocated away from vehicular movement or at a minimum designed in such a way that foot traffic and children’s crossing take precedent over the movement of cars and buses.”

Kovalchik disagreed with the LVPC review concerning the playground at the proposed Route 329 elementary school.

“The Lehigh Elementary project playground and parking is the same as the proposed Route 329 project, which the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission reviewed as well and did not make any specific comments about the playground at that time,” Kovalchik said.

“There are safety measures that were put in (for the Route 329 elementary school). The buses arrive in one entrance. And the cars arrive in another entrance. Once the students are in the school, the gates are locked. So, when the students come out for physical education class or recess, vehicles can’t enter,” Kovalchik added.

The gates would be locked 9:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

“We’re not going to put students in jeopardy at any particular time,” Kovalchik said. “The school district will follow all the requirements of East Allen Township and the conservation district, just like we always have in the past with our previous projects, no matter what municipality that we worked with.”