A coordinator for Northampton Area School District’s community education program has been approved.

NASD Board of Education voted 8-0, with one school director absent, at the Jan. 8 meeting to approve Michelle Heisler as coordinator of the program, with a stipend of $3,000, effective Jan. 9 for the spring session of the 2023-24 school year.

In other business at the Jan. 8 meeting, school directors voted 8-0 to approve Megan Repsher, personnel secretary, as of Dec. 18, 2023, at a salary of $55,386.46, prorated, with benefits, in accordance with the confidential secretary agreement; Austin Hicks, special education instructional assistant at George Wolf Elementary School, effective Jan. 22, at a salary of $18.88 per hour, paid with Access funds, with benefits; Nathan Kelly, Tuesdays-Saturdays maintenance II employee, effective Jan. 22, at $29.66 per hour, with benefits, in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement between NASD and Teamsters Local 773; Jeanine Braren-Wuchter, custodian at Northampton Area High School, for resignation/retirement, effective Feb. 9; Jessica Moser, cafeteria monitor at Lehigh Elementary School, for resignation, effective Dec. 15, 2023; and Jennifer Getz, school social worker at Northampton Area Middle School, for resignation, effective Jan. 12.

Trips were also approved, including Kristy Young and three students to attend Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 10 Orchestra Festival at Northeast Middle School, Bethlehem, Feb. 8-10, at a cost of $696.53, included in the board-approved district budget; Victoria Kropf, to attend one day and night at the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network/Pennsylvania Department of Education Conference, set for Feb. 28-March 1, at Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, at a cost of $105.46, with mileage reimbursement the only cost to the district; Douglas Fehnel and David Remaley, from NAHS, to attend Marine Corps Educators Workshop, Feb. 6-9, in Parris Island, S.C., as an all-expenses paid event by the Marine Corps and no cost to the district; Jessica Pretopapa, 42 students and two chaperones to travel to New York City, N.Y., April 17, for a National Honor Society educational field trip at a cost to the district not to exceed $313.06, covered in the 2023-24 board-approved budget; James Sansone and one student to attend the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 10 Band Festival, at Exeter Township Senior High School, Reading, Jan. 11-13, at a cost to the district of $483.06, included in the board-approved district budget; and Shaun Murray and Matthew Frailey to attend the Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association, planned for March 19-22, at Hershey Lodge, at a cost of $1,805.54.

Other approvals were the 2024-25 program of studies for NAHS; contract with CMG, of Easton, for $298,200 to replace windows at Siegfried Elementary School; contract with Caretti Inc., for $109,500, for brick repairs at NAHS; catalog fixed discount program, awarded by Colonial IU-20 Joint Purchasing Board, Jan. 1-Dec. 31; contract to transfer NASD Commonwealth of Pennsylvania CoSTARS procured Verizon services from expired COPA contact, to active COPA voice contract or current data contract; vendors for fuel oil for the 2024-25 school year as recommended by Northampton Monroe Pike County Joint Purchasing Board and approved by Colonial IU-20 Board of Directors at the February meeting; after-school tutoring program by teachers and reimbursements, in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement, effective Feb. 6-March 27, with salaries paid by American Rescue Plan Set-Aside Grant for after-school programs; the 2024-25 school calendar; and to accept $200, with appreciation, from Making Memories (Mary Jo Pletz and Charlene Shelak), Walnutport.

At the Jan. 8 meeting, NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik and NASD Business Administrator Craig Neiman made the NASD 2024-25 preliminary budget presentation. The presentation included the NASD capital improvement update for 2023-24.

The summer 2024 schedule of work and estimated costs includes AED replacements at $40,000, Laubach Avenue fence at $37,000, Erdosy Stadium public address system at $50,000, NAHS gym audio system at $50,000, NAHS generator area guardrail at $7,000, tennis court resurfacing at $43,000, DW BAS system upgrades (HVAC) at $150,000, Siegfried Elementary School windows at $300,000, NAHS boilers at $160,000, George Wolf Elementary elevator at $30,000, NAHS brickwork at $110,000 and NAHS chillers in the gym and auditorium at $1,150,000.

Capital improvements in next two to five years include NAHS auditorium at $600,000, Erdosy Stadium turf at $900,000, maintenance parking lot at $700,000, NASD vehicle fleet replacement at $250,000 and George Wolf HVAC at $3,000,000.

The board of education next meets 6:30 p.m. Feb. 12 in the auditorium at NAHS, 1619 Laubach Ave.