Whitehall High School Principal Christopher Schiffert was named transitional assistant to the superintendent during a special Whitehall-Coplay School Board meeting Monday night.

Responsible for student and operational services, Schiffert will hold the transitional title Aug. 1-19; thereafter, he will take on the assistant to the superintendent role, effective Aug. 20.

The motion was approved with an unopposed vote by the board, and Schiffert was given a round of applause before speaking to those in attendance.

“I truly love being here at Whitehall,” said Schiffert. “I have said it before, but we are by far the best district around. We do things the right way, and I know I have a lot of challenges ahead of me, but I look forward to it.

“I’m excited to work with Dr. Hackett and to help move our district forward in a positive effort,” Schiffert said.

Dr. Lorie Hackett was named Whitehall-Coplay School District’s substitute superintendent at a meeting June 13, while current Superintendent John Corby inches closer to his retirement. Hackett will take over the full title as superintendent Nov. 1.

She spoke highly of Schiffert after his appointment.

“Through the process of finding the right candidate, we went through 25 applicants and 11 interviews,” Hackett said. “Chris has worked diligently at the high school. He represents the district well during events, time and time again. And he has earned the respect of the staff.

“He embodies the same vision we all have and is student centered first and foremost,” she added. “I couldn’t think of a better person for the job.”

Schiffert has worked as principal at Whitehall High School for six years. Previously, he was employed by Easton Area School District, where he worked for seven years as a history teacher before moving on to assistant principal for four years.

When asked about the new challenges he will face moving into the new position, Schiffert explained there will be a learning curve for him, as the new job will have a much broader scale in terms of being focused on the entire district.

Regarding the now-open Whitehall High School principal position, Schiffert said he is part of a team helping to narrow the list of candidates internally from the district to fill the position. The team is currently going through the interview process and hopes to fill the position as soon as possible.

Also on the agenda, the board approved a money transfer of $600,000 from the general fund to the capital reserve fund to be expended for capital projects, which include technology improvements, track resurfacing, districtwide camera system upgrades and school buses.

The board also approved the renewal of Preferred EAP Service Agreement through next year and the appointments of Lisa Barr as the new Whitehall-Coplay Middle School emotional support educator and Catherine Hertzog as a summer school teacher for math and language arts at the middle school.

Nine teachers were also granted tenure for completing three years of satisfactory service to the district: Abigail Fatula, Steckel Elementary; Simone Granison and Hollie Matejcek, Zephyr Elementary; Sandra Reilly, middle school; and Kara Chamberlain, Laura Delunas, Andrew Fehnel, Amy Kahora and Brayden Sickler, high school.

The next regular school board meeting is set for 6 p.m. July 18, while the next round of committee meetings will be held 4 p.m. Aug. 22.