One month ago, the Northampton Area School District Board of Education approved a 2024-25 budget with a deficit balanced by a 1% tax hike and use of the general fund. As of the July 15 board of education meeting, the district’s 2024-25 budget deficit vanished.

What happened?

Harrisburg.

The 2024-25 Pennsylvania budget, signed July 11 by Gov. Josh Shapiro, provides the district with $2 million in basic education and special education funding, NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik announced at the July 15 board meeting.

“We will be receiving an additional $1.5 million from the state,” Kovalchik said. “Basically, that wipes out the deficit of the budget passed in June.”

The net increase in state education funding for the district’s 2024-25 budget is $1.5 million. The increase for NASD is part of the commonwealth’s $1.1 billion boost in K-12 public education funding for 2024-25.

“The increase will be approximately $2 million. We had budgeted $500,000” (in state funds),” NASD Business Administrator Craig Neiman said. “The good news is that with the new state funding, we will basically balance the (2024-25) budget.”

Kovalchik said the state funding would impact possible district budget transfers, which would be considered on the agenda at upcoming board meetings.

The NASD school board voted 6-2 at its June 10 meeting to approve the district’s 2024-25 school budget. The 1% increase generates $722,895, with $1,468,542 taken from the district fund balance, to balance the 2024-25 budget.

The tax hike and use of the fund balance offset the 2024-25 budget deficit of $2.2 million, based on expenditures of $131.9 million and revenue of $129.7 million.

The July 15 meeting agenda items included Moore Elementary School and the Route 329 Elementary School and education center project. Discussion about Moore Elementary School centered on the scope of improvements, project time table and cost.

Moore Elementary School is on the agenda of the NASD facilities committee meeting, set for 6 p.m. Aug. 19 in the Northampton Area High School library conference room. The meeting is open to the public.

Moore Elementary renovation estimates are $25,282,021 for a partial renovation and $51,414,018 for a full renovation, as stated at the April 4 Moore Elementary meeting.

In addition to renovation, staff costs are $2,439,495 annually, plus utilities and other items, for an annual Moore operating cost of $3,224,495.

A 28-page draft study for Moore renovation, presented by Arif Fazil, D’Huy Engineering president, at the Nov. 13, 2023, school board meeting, is on the district website. D’Huy presented a project update at the Jan. 17 board meeting.

Moore Elementary, in the northeast corner of the 97.3-square-mile school district, is a one-story building with a two-story classroom wing for a total of 97,600 square feet. The building, constructed in 1957, with additions and renovations in 1966, 1973 and 2001, is on 17.75 acres at 2835 Mountain View Drive (Route 946), Moore Township.

Moore Elementary was to be closed as part of the Route 329 project. The NASD board indicated it wants to keep Moore open but has not taken an official vote.

Construction of the $75,858,529 school project at Route 329 and Seemsville Road in East Allen Township, which began in November 2023, is to be completed in summer 2026.

At the July 15 meeting, Chris Haller, D’Huy Engineering project engineer, gave a progress report on the Route 329 project. Geo-piers have been placed under locations of building foundations, footers for classrooms have been placed, and underground utilities have been placed.

“We expect to be receiving the steel in August at the site. It is being fabricated,” Haller said. “We hope to have the building enclosed by October so that work can continue inside in the winter with protection against the elements.”

The July 15 meeting was the first in approximately four months to have a full NASD school board of nine directors in attendance. It was the first board meeting for school Director Nathan Lichtenwalner, appointed June 4 by Northampton County President Judge Craig A. Dally to represent Region 2, following the March 1 resignation of Chuck Frantz.

The NASD board of education holds its next monthly meeting 6:30 p.m. Aug. 12 in the NAHS auditorium, 1619 Laubach Ave., Northampton.