During the April 9 Catasauqua Area School District Board of Education meeting, Joe Kovacs, of Catasauqua American Legion Post 215, and Rebecca Gillespie, of Blondie’s Cupcakes, presented the board with a donation from a recent fundraising event. Kovacs and Gillespie presented the $1,048 donation to Director of Student Activities Thomas Moll.

They noted the bingo fundraiser at the Post, 330 Second St., was held to benefit the CASD Rough Riders football team. Kovacs noted the idea and planning for the event started with former football coach Travis Brett. Even though Brett is no longer involved, the American Legion decided to go ahead and hold the event.

“We would love to do it again,” Kovacs said.

He also noted if they hold another event to benefit the football team, he is hoping for coach and team members to volunteer and help. With the departure of Brett, Kovacs said, there was a disconnect between the organization and the team. Kovacs noted Gillespie and her husband did a lot of the heavy lifting working the event. It was reported some parishioners from Holy Trinity Memorial Lutheran Church also volunteered to help.

Moll mentioned the American Legion and some other businesses, including the Catty Club and Slovak Center Social Club, helped feed the football players, cheerleaders and band members during away games last year. This effort helped emphasize the importance and generosity of the district’s community partners.

In other business, Sheckler Elementary School Principal Dr. Robert Kucharczuk introduced the Students of the Month. The honored students are fourth-graders Stephanie Dorn and Harper Caverly and third-graders Alexander DeJesus, Addison Conway, Lauren Rotell, Gabriel Rodriguez Diaz and Kimi Pan.

Assistant Superintendent Eric Dauberman reported the school buildings were inspected and cleared as safe from damage after the April 5 earthquake. Additionally, the new digital signage at Sheckler Elementary and Catasauqua Middle School is operational, and they are in the process of exploring their full functionality.

Business Manager Lindsey Wallace thanked Giant Food Store, Whitehall, for its donation of $3,095.18 to the district from its Round Up program and its Feed School Kids initiative.

Regarding personnel, the retirement of three employees and the intent to retire for three Sheckler teachers were approved. Colleen Whitsett, certified instructional aide, and Lisa Meckes, noncertified instructional aide, were approved to retire at the end of the year. Rosemary Matus, CDL driver, retired effective March 13.

The intent to retire was approved for Lynn Hurd, kindergarten teacher, after 33 years in CASD; Wendy Laubenstein, third-grade teacher, after 34 years; and Brian Sigafoos, first-grade teacher, after 21 years.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christina Lutz-Doemling thanked these educators for their work in the district and lauded their “wealth of knowledge and experience.”

To fill some of these voids, the board approved changes in employment status for a number of roles. Certified instructional aides Abbey Shiffert and Tiandra Riegel are moving to become first-grade teachers. Laura Kotran is moving from noncertified instructional aide to third-grade teacher, and Elizabeth Miller is moving from substitute teacher to kindergarten teacher. All four new teachers attended the meeting and thanked the board for allowing them to continue their work in a new way.

“Many of our teachers come as substitutes but stay and become permanent teachers,” Dauberman said. “People want to work here.”

“I’ve never been part of an organization with such an internal hiring process,” Kucharczuk noted. “People want to stick around and learn and take it to the next level.”

Other changes include Caila Landis, moving from general kitchen help to noncertified instructional aide at Sheckler; Donald Becker, Stephanie DeLa Cruz and Phillip Hawk, non-CDL driver substitutes to CDL drivers; Jill Gruver, general kitchen help to cafeteria substitute at Catasauqua High School; and Richard Quier, custodian B to custodian substitute.

The resignations of noncertified instructional aides Allanah George, at Sheckler, and Evan Frantz, at CHS, and CHS athletic secretary Pamela Nyce were approved.

Other personnel approvals included 2024-25 salaries for support staff, food service workers, custodial and maintenance staff, transportation workers and administration.

Extracurricular positions approved include Aaron Bilby, as CHS freshman class adviser at 90% stipend of $657; Molly Lavigne, as CHS freshman class adviser at 10% stipend of $73; Joseph Henrich as volunteer football head coach; and Tyler Hodges, Scott Tennyson, Herman Stein, Ryan Johnson and Matthew Kosciolek as volunteer assistant football coaches.

After being on display for more than 30 days, final approval was granted for the enVision AGA algebra I, geometry and algebra II textbooks for CHS. Director of Curriculum and Assessment Melissa Inselmann thanked the CHS math teachers for their diligence in choosing those texts.

Approval was granted for the 2024-27 CASD special education plan, the facilities plan committee report from Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21 and the renewal of the Cybersoft Technologies Inc. PrimeroEdge point of sale software for the cafeteria in the amount of $5,175.

The board approved the district to participate in the consortium energy bid with Provident Energy Consultants to contract for electricity, effective July 1, 2025, and to enter into a bus side stop signal enforcement system agreement with Pennsylvania State Police.

Dan Kotran reported work is being completed on the district’s new website featuring a “fresh look” and added features. He expects the site to launch in early June.

The next board of education meeting is set for 7 p.m. May 7 in the district administration office board room, 201 N. 14th St.