During the Jan. 16 Catasauqua Area School District Board of Education meeting, Alyssa Wingenfield, of McClure Company, gave an update on the Catasauqua High School roof repair project.

She noted the roof is original to the school — built in 2005 — and is now out of warranty. She recommended they go with a seamless monolithic cover for the roof.

Wingenfield said they reviewed a number of bids and quotes and estimate the project to be more than $3 million. CASD received a $1 million Public School Facility Improvement grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority in September 2024 to go toward the roofing project, leaving the district to cover the $2 million-plus remainder.

There was discussion about keeping the concession stand roof as part of the project scope and whether it made financial sense to do it separately.

A decision on next steps is expected at the February board meeting.

Brad Remig, of PFM Financial Advisors, also provided the board with financing options in connection with a number of capital plans considered in the district, including the CHS roof, Catasauqua Middle School renovation or new building and Sheckler Elementary School addition. Remig, with the assistance of Vincent Lancia, wanted to help provide a road map of different hypothetical borrowing scenarios to help guide the district in future decisions.

Adam Kerr, of EI Associates, attended the meeting virtually to present the final districtwide feasibility study. The board had no additional questions, and the study was accepted. The 362-page study is available on the school district website, casd.org.

In other business, Sheckler Elementary School Principal Dr. Robert Kucharczuk introduced the Students of the Month — Macie Daniels, Jordyn Clinton, Savannah Judy, Kennedy Schuster, Ben Wisser and Lyla Caverly.

Eric Dauberman, assistant to the superintendent, reported they have implemented an end-of-year survey to hear from student athletes. He noted they are receiving candid, thoughtful, sincere and respectful feedback from the students that will be shared with coaches. Board member Jamie Nattress asked if the survey could also be shared with other clubs and groups in the district. Dauberman said the athlete survey is serving as a pilot, and it could absolutely be expanded upon.

Robert Steckel was thanked for stepping up during the last year to help fill in administrative roles. He helped fill the CMS principal void between Dr. Carey Pammer and Patrick McNulty. Steckel was then asked to fill in while Sarah Auletta, Sheckler assistant principal, was on leave. Now that Auletta is back, Steckel will return to his regular work as a paraprofessional and instructional aide at CMS.

Other personnel business included approving Krista George-Martell, a speech and language teacher, for retirement. She has taught for 23.5 years in the district. The appointment of Brett Snyder as the district speech and language teacher/educational specialist was also approved.

Changes in employment status were approved for Lauren Hughes to move from noncertified instructional aide substitute to noncertified instructional aide, Cathy Moore to move from daily building substitute to substitute teacher and Korin Moyer-Mitchell and Olivia Neal to move from short-term substitutes to daily building substitutes.

Paige Mathieu was added as a guest teacher, and Roseaida Nieves was hired as a substitute cafeteria van driver.

Student teachers and interns were also approved. Jordan Schutter, of Wilkes University, will work with Emma Kalman in instructional technology from Jan. 20 to April 13. Jill Norbert-Buchinsky, of Lehigh University, will work with Kevin Foley in high school social studies. Lauralie Savitski, of Moravian University, will work with Charles Matz in high school art from March 10 to April 25. Caleb Gibbs, of DeSales University, will work with Andrew Gruver in high school English from Jan. 15 to March 5.

The board also approved extracurricular positions, including Luke Dauberman as assistant baseball coach, Joseph Henrich as the spring weight room monitor at $750, Daniel Lopez and Raymond Estecumber as volunteer assistant baseball coaches and Michael Sanders as volunteer assistant drama director.

The board discussed the proposed contract with Edlio for electronic payment processing in the district. Business Manager Lindsey Wallace noted they’ve been receiving increased requests for the district to accept credit card payments. She noted this would serve as a convenience option for families to pay fees, such as for technology, yearbooks, etc. The credit card option would include a 35 cent processing fee. Wallace emphasized cash and checks will still be accepted.

There was concern about the exclusivity portion of the contract. It was noted the drama club uses a different vendor for online ticket sales. Wallace said she will look into possible problems or overlap.

The board voted to accept the contract, providing there are no problems with the online ticketing system.

School board members approved the authorization to go out to bid for the high school weight room renovation and equipment project.

Other board approvals included a resolution not to raise taxes beyond the state index, reaffirming the Pennsylvania School Boards Association’s principles for governance and leadership and the job description for speech and language teacher/educational specialist.

The next school board meeting will be 7 p.m. Feb. 11 in the district administration board room, 201 N. 14th St.