Northampton Area School District administration continues to whittle away at the 2025-26 budget deficit.

The budget deficit has been reduced to $3,704,155 as of the March 10 NASD Board of Education meeting.

That’s a reduction of nearly half the amount of the budget deficit of $6,259,264 as of the school board meeting Jan. 13 when the upcoming district budget was introduced.

As in previous years, NASD administrators shave the deficit up to the proposed final budget vote. That is scheduled for the May 12 board meeting. Changes can be made up to and including the final budget vote, expected at the June 16 board meeting.

An update on the budget by the administration is scheduled for the next school board meeting, set for 6:30 p.m. April 14 in the auditorium at Northampton Area High School, 1619 Laubach Ave.

NASD Business Administrator Craig Neiman, at the March 10 meeting, detailed budget reductions that have taken place since the January budget presentation.

Neiman and NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik elaborated on several of the reasons for the reductions that total $3,140,560. The following amounts listed represent cuts to the proposed budget.

• Personnel reductions and reassignments: $1,260,697. Concerning personnel, Kovalchik stated, after the March 10 meeting in an email response to a question by a reporter for Northampton Press, that staffing has not been finalized and that announcements would be forthcoming.

• Moore Elementary School summer 2028 opening: $900,910. Neiman attributed this savings amount to pushing back the reopening of Moore Elementary to 2028. The budget update presentation preceded the school board’s 6-2 vote at the March 10 meeting to table renovations to Moore Elementary. The school board voted 7-2 at the Jan. 13 meeting for a complete building renovation of Moore, estimated at $51 million. However, the March 10 vote defeated an amendment to an agreement for engineering services between NASD and CHA Consulting Inc. to include the basic renovation scope of Moore Elementary School and a contract addendum for architectural/engineering services for the Moore Elementary School renovation project between NASD and KCBA Architects to include the basic renovation scope of Moore Elementary School. The vote would seem to put the Moore renovation project on hold.

• The three-district Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School funding, including The Factory: $553,953. Saucon Valley School District Board of Education voted Feb. 25 to approve a new 50-year partnership with NASD and Bethlehem Area School District to fund BAVTS. Purchase of The Factory would allow a southside Bethlehem campus in lieu of a main campus expansion.

“Saucon will help share the cost,” Neiman said at the March 10 meeting.

• Staff computer replacement: $150,000. This means that computers won’t be replaced.

• Adjust districtwide temperature set point: $100,000. This savings would be achieved by reducing and/or increasing district buildings’ thermostats settings.

• Eliminate substitute custodians: $75,000

• Reduce school library and instructional materials: $50,000

• Reduce building budgets: $50,000

The total reduction amount is $3,140,560.

Neiman reported, at the March 10 meeting, there have been budget increases since the January budget presentation. The increases total $585,451 and include capital budget line item, $500,000, and Northampton Community College budget, $85,451.

Budget expenditures have been reduced from $142.8 million as of the January presentation to $140.6 million as of the March 10 meeting.

Based on the presentation March 10, with a deficit of $3,704,155, one option is a tax increase of 4%, based on an increase of 2.25 mills that would generate revenue of $3,201,288 and would include use of $502,867 from the district fund balance, to work out to an average annual tax bill increase of $141.80.

School directors voted 9-0 at the Jan. 13 meeting to approve a resolution to not raise the tax rate more than the state-mandated 2025-26 Act 1 index of 4.8%.