“This is good news for the district,” said Northampton Area School District (NASD) Business Administrator Terry Leh.

The “good news” was Leh’s announcement that NASD stands to receive more than $11 million in reimbursements from Pennsylvania Department of Public Education (PDE) for the Northampton Area Middle School and Secondary Campus Renovation Project.

According to an Oct. 24 PlanCon update on the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) website, “The state continues to be on track for getting the 2015-16 and any overdue 2016-17 PlanCon payments out to districts ASAP.

“The first tranche of borrowing is in the works, and we are still being told that districts should expect to receive by the end of November their overdue 2015-16 reimbursement,” according to the Oct. 24 statement on the PASA website.

What it translates to for NASD is a payment of from $11 million to $11.8 million over the bond life of 21 years as PDE PlanCon reimbursement for the middle school and campus project, which is nearing completion.

NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik said a final report on the middle school project by the architect firm KCBA Architects and engineering firm D’Huy Engineering Inc. is expected at the next school board meeting, 6:30 p.m. Nov. 7, in the administration building, 2014 Laubach Ave., Northampton.

Stadium lights are being installed on the Laubach softball field and secondary campus auxiliary field. A new marquee sign is being installed along Laubach Avenue in front of Northampton Area High School.

Leh explained to a Northampton Press reporter after the Oct. 24 meeting he expects, but doesn’t know for certain, NASD to be reimbursed $927,000 for the George Wolf Elementary School project by the end of 2016.

PDE PlanCon reimbursement payments for previous district construction projects include George Wolf Elementary School, Bath; Borough Elementary Schools, Northampton, and Northampton Area High School, Northampton.

At the July 25 board of education meeting, it was estimated the PlanCon reimbursement for 2016-17 is approximately $600,000.

Leh said the first portion of the estimated $11 million-plus reimbursement for the middle school project is expected to be received from PDE by June 30, 2017.

Leh said it is not known what the amount of the first payment will be or what the amount of subsequent payments would be each year over the course of the 21-year repayment, which would conclude, approximately, in the year 2037.

The school board voted 8-0, with one vacancy Oct. 24, to accept approval by PDE of PlanCon Part H: Project Financing No. 3678, the new middle school construction project. School Director Chuck Frantz made the motion, seconded by James Chuss.

“Unless we start another building project, we’re all caught up,” quipped school Director Dr. Michael Baird.

It was not decided what NASD will do with the reimbursements. The funds could be placed in the district fund balance.

The NASD fund balance was $1,946,000 for the 2014-15 school year and $2,900,000 for the 2015-16 school year and is $3,600,000 for the 2016-17 school year.

The PlanCon reimbursement snafu happened following a nine-month impasse on the 2015-16 state budget that, when resolved in March, didn’t include an estimated $300 million in annual PlanCon reimbursements to school districts in Pennsylvania.

The $31.6 billion budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year also lacked funding for PlanCon reimbursements.

However, the Gov. Tom Wolf administration secured an $850 million bond, so districts received some of the reimbursements owed to them. Commonwealth Financing Authority then initiated a bond process, which was finalized in September.

In other business at the Oct. 24 NASD board meeting, school directors listened to presentations from and asked questions of two applicants, John Becker and Scott Renson, for the Region 1 Lehigh and Allen townships board seat that is open following the resignation of Jennifer Miller. A third applicant, Brett Reichelderfer, a former NASD school director, withdrew his name during the meeting via a phone call to Kovalchik.

Becker is a retired NASD school teacher, having taught for 37 years in the district, where he coached the gymnastics team before retiring three years ago. Becker is a district resident, having lived on the same Lehigh Township farm his entire life.

Renson works for SunGard K-12 Education, a Bethlehem-based software company. He and his family moved to the district about two years ago.

The school board is expected to vote at the Nov. 7 meeting to appoint Becker or Renson to complete the Region 1 term, which would be for one year.

The appointee would take his oath of office at the 6:30 p.m. Nov. 21 board meeting.

He could choose to run for election in the May 2017 primary and, if he wins, in the November 2017 general election for a two-year term.