Two new options are under consideration for Moore Elementary School.

The Northampton Area School District Board of Education facilities committee is proposing seven options for Moore Elementary School for an agenda up-or-down vote at the next NASD Board of Education meeting, set for 7 p.m. Dec. 2 in the auditorium at Northampton Area High School, 1619 Laubach Ave.

At the Nov. 18 facilities committee meeting, two options were added to the previously stated five options for Moore Elementary.

The five options were outlined and discussed at the Oct. 21 facilities meeting and presented by Christopher W. Haller, project engineer, D’Huy Engineering Inc., district consulting engineer, at the Nov. 11 school board meeting.

The Moore Elementary renovation options board presentation is on the NASD website, nasdschools.org/article/1870143.

The two new options are full renovation of the elementary school or demolition of the existing school and construction of a new school on the 17.75-acre site along 2835 Mountain View Drive (Route 946), Moore Township.

A timetable plan for Moore, linked to the demolition and rebuilding option, was put forth at the Nov. 18 facilities meeting by committee member and school Director Joshua Harris. Harris is proposing contracts be awarded for a new Moore Elementary in November 2025 with construction work to begin in summer 2026.

Under the plan, Moore Elementary students, with enrollment estimated at 380, would transfer to East Allen Elementary School in fall 2026 when the new elementary school is scheduled to open for the 2026-27 school year. An estimated 120 kindergarten students from Franklin Elementary School, Northampton, would also attend East Allen Elementary.

“When the new school opens, the Moore students get moved,” Harris said.

Based on the timetable, Moore students would attend classes at East Allen Elementary for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years and return to the new Moore Elementary School in the 2028-29 school year. If there are unforeseen delays, students would also attend East Allen Elementary for 2028-29 school year and return to Moore Elementary for the 2029-30 school year.

The timetable is contingent on completion of design and engineering work for a new Moore Elementary School; the request for proposals bid process for school construction; probable and successful public bond financing for the project; review and approvals from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for new entrance and exit drives at Moore because Blue Mountain Drive (Route 946) is a state jurisdiction highway; and review and approvals from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for a new sewer module for Moore to replace the existing sewer system, which is in need of repairs.

At the nearly two-and-a-half-hour Nov. 18 facilities meeting in the NAHS library conference room, with nearly every seat occupied by school officials and residents, Harris emphasized he was either in favor of the least-expensive option to renovate the 68-year-old Moore Elementary School or a completely new facility.

Also attending the Nov. 18 facilities meeting was Kim Bretzik, who represents Bath and Chapman boroughs and Moore Township. Bretzik made a proposal at the Oct. 14 board meeting to spend $20 million to renovate Moore.

Referring to public opposition voiced at the Nov. 11 board of education meeting about a “Band-Aid approach” to renovating Moore, and citing his constituents, Harris, who represents Bath and Chapman boroughs and Moore Township, said, ”I will not vote to close Moore.”

Facilities committee member school Director Brian McCulloch, who represents Bath and Chapman boroughs and Moore Township, said though he wasn’t completely in favor of Harris’ proposal, he could support it.

“If we’re going to keep [Moore] open, $20 million is an expensive Band-Aid,” said facilities committee member school Director Ross Makary, who represents Northampton Borough and East Allen Township, and advocates for a new Moore Elementary School.

School board President Doug Vaughn, who represents Allen and Lehigh townships, attended the Nov. 18 facilities meeting. Vaughn reported to the committee he added option six — full renovation estimated at $51 million — and option seven — demolition of existing school and new school construction of new school estimated at $70 million — for Moore to the Dec. 2 agenda at the request of school Director John Becker, who represents Allen and Lehigh townships.

NASD Director of Operations Jonathan Jenny, who chaired the facilities committee meeting, backs a brand-new Moore Elementary, saying of the five renovation options, “I think that any of the options are not a good use of taxpayers’ dollars.”