The 2023-24 proposed budget with no tax hike has been approved for Northampton Area School District during the May 8 school board meeting.

The NASD Board of Education voted 9-0 to adopt the 2023-24 proposed budget, to advertise it and make it available for public inspection. The vote to approve the budget was unanimous, with school Director Chuck Frantz phoning in his vote.

The budget amounts include the general fund, $128,428,529; food service fund, $2,689,821; and athletic fund, $273,115. The 2023-24 millage rate would be 55.71 mills, the same as the 2022-23 millage rate. Based on the average property assessment in the district of $63,000, the tax would be $3,509.73, a zero-percent increase.

Commonwealth law requires a school district to advertise and make a district’s annual budget available to the public for 30 days before a final vote. School district budgets must be approved by June 30.

A vote on the final 2023-24 NASD budget is expected to be on the agenda of the next school board meeting, planned for 6:30 p.m. June 12 in the Northampton Area High School auditorium, 1619 Laubach Ave., Northampton.

The NASD 2023-24 general fund budget has expenditures of $128,428,529, an increase of $7,952,433, or 6.6%, from the 2022-23 budget expenditures of $120,476,097.

The 2023-24 general fund budget has revenue of $126,303,118, an increase of $5,827,021, or 4.84%, from the 2022-23 budget revenue of $120,476,097.

The deficit in the NASD 2023-24 general fund budget is $2,125,411. To balance the budget, $2,125,411 will be taken from the district fund balance.

The ending unassigned fund balance would be $6,892,244, or 5.3%, which is above the 5% minimum established by the school board in Fund Balance Policy 620, officially adopted Sept. 13, 2010. The fund balance policy requires the district to maintain an unassigned general fund balance of no less than 5% and no more than 8%.

The proposed 2023-24 budget has been posted on the NASD website, nasdschools.org.

There are 10 new positions in the budget including special education roles at the elementary, middle and high school levels; three special education instructional assistants; two middle school math teachers; an English language teacher; and an assistant athletic director.

“The administrators have been working hard. We’ve hired 15 people,” NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik said at the May 8 board meeting. “Our goal was to have 90% of our hires by June, by the end of the school year, and I think we will meet that goal.”

Also at the May 8 meeting, school directors voted 9-0 to approve the hiring of 10 teachers. The new hires include Lori Cassidy, Northampton Area Middle School English teacher, as of Aug. 21, at $62,912 with benefits; Charles Hutterer, NAMS business, computer, information technology teacher, effective Aug. 21, at $59,466 with benefits; Meredith Roe, NAMS French teacher, as of Aug. 21, at $60,877 with benefits; Logan Bortz, NAMS mathematics teacher, effective Aug. 21, at $58,855 with benefits; Angela Laury, NAMS family and consumer science teacher, as of Aug. 21, at $66,549 with benefits; David Domchek, Northampton Area High School special education autistic support teacher, as of Aug. 21, at $97,987 with benefits; Jennifer Stroup, Lehigh Elementary School fifth-grade teacher, as of Aug. 21, at $63,344 with benefits; Marina Schrap, Lehigh Elementary special education teacher, effective Aug. 21, at $58,855 with benefits; Trisha Nagle, Lehigh Elementary kindergarten teacher, effective Aug. 21, at $60,077 with benefits; and Lynette Meister, Siegfried Elementary School special education teacher, effective Aug. 21, at $62,000 with benefits.