Seven staff members are set to join Northampton Area School District this fall.

NASD Board of Education voted, at the June 10 meeting, to approve the hiring of Courtney Kokolus, math teacher at Northampton Area Middle School, at $65,721; Amberly Drey, grade 4 teacher at George Wolf Elementary School, at $73,977; Adin Hoderewski, special education teacher at Northampton Area High School, at $61,255; Brandon Costanzo, NAHS special education instructional assistant, at $20.13 per hour; Cori Turner, special education instructional assistant at Moore Elementary School, at $20.13 per hour; Krista Atiyeh, floating school nurse at Siegfried Elementary School, at $65,721; and Deanna Souza, Thursday-Saturday middle shift custodian at Moore Elementary, at $27.77 per hour.

All are set to start effective Aug. 19, except for Souza, who was approved to start June 17. All were approved with benefits.

The board approved resignations, including Janelle Schaeffer, NAHS assistant principal, effective July 7; Austin Hicks, George Wolf Elementary instructional assistant, effective June 4; and Heather Pizzolatto, Moore Elementary cafeteria monitor, effective June 4.

The retirement of Deborah Recker, NAHS security guard, was approved effective Aug. 1.

The board of education also voted to approve additions and deletions to the substitute listing for the 2023-24 school year, the list of teachers and instructional assistants to provide extended school year and Chapter 15 Section 504 Services for summer 2024, the list of summer library workers and their compensation for the Title I summer book library program family engagement program at George Wolf Elementary with salaries paid through a Title I grant and the list of school counselors and their compensation to work over the summer in summer professional development as required by the American Rescue Plan Learning Loss Set Aside Grant.

Christine Marto, Courtney Muick, Jon Lynch and 40 NAHS Drama Club students were approved for a trip to New York City June 12, at a cost of $150 per student, funded by the student activity account. There was no cost to NASD.

The revised policy 819 regarding suicide awareness was approved, alongside revised and new curricula for the 2024-25 school year, including computer technology 6, physical education 6-8, general music 8, academic success i, ukulele, guitar lab, music theory, career English 10, honors French III and French IV.

Approved instructional resources for the 2024-25 year, included in the curriculum budget but not to exceed $150,000, include Twig Science for grades K-5 and OpenSciEd for grades 6-8.

The board also approved the revised list of individuals and pay rates to oversee intramural programs and weight room for the 2023-24 school year, the instructional resource pilot program of NoRedInk and FastBridge for the 2024-25 school year, alternate methods of billing and payment with Northampton Community College for the 2024-25 fiscal year and the creation of an NAHS student activity account for Aevidum.

The board authorized the administration to pay final invoices applicable to the 2023-24 fiscal year and make necessary budget transfers to close the fiscal year in conjunction with Gorman and Associates P.C.

Additional approvals included the additional 2024-25 targeted support and improvement plan for NAHS, so NASD can submit the approved plan to Pennsylvania Department of Education for final approval; the collaborative agreement/contract with Center for Humanistic Change for the 2024-25 school year to provide liaison services for Student Assistance Program at no cost to NASD; and the utilization of agency nurses and health room assistants via contract with General Healthcare Resources, doing business as GHR Education, effective July 14 through the 2024-25 school year.

A la carte prices for the 2024-25 school year were approved at $2.80 for elementary students and $3 for secondary students. The price for student lunch entrees only for elementary is $2.70 and $2.90 for secondary, with 75 cents for milk.

Breakfast for elementary and secondary students will be provided at no cost.

Adult lunch prices are $2.85 for breakfast, $4.25 for lunch and $3.25-$4 for lunch entree only.

The board approved insurance coverage renewals for the 2024-25 fiscal year, including Utica for commercial package at $198,392, business automobile at $23,121 and commercial umbrella at $16,182; Key Risk for workers’ compensation at $246,801; AIG for errors and omissions at $28,990; and Chubb Group for cyber liability at $32,933 and fiduciary at $4,938.

The board of education next meets 6:30 p.m. July 15 in the NAHS auditorium, 1619 Laubach Ave., Northampton.