The issuance of a second bond to continue financing the Lehigh Elementary School project is under consideration.

The board of education and administrators of Northampton Area School District have been briefed on the plan by Jamie Doyle, managing director of PFM Financial Advisors LLC, the district’s financial consulting firm.

The project for the new elementary school, to be built on the expanded property of the old school along Blue Mountain Drive, Lehigh Township, has a construction cost of $25,535,000 and a project cost of $35,788,356.

“It’s kind of the best of both worlds,” Doyle told school officials at the Nov. 19 school board meeting. “Your borrowing rates are still low, but you’re earning more.”

The 2019 bond issue would be $9,955,000, the same as the 2018 bond issue. The rates are to be locked in as of January 2019.

“Everything is going according to plan,” Doyle said.

A vote to proceed with the bond sale is to be on the agenda of the next school board meeting, 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3, at the school district administration building, 2014 Laubach Ave., Northampton. Board reorganization and committee appointments are also to take place at the Dec. 3 meeting.

A vote on approving the bond issuance is to be on the agenda of the Jan. 14, 2019, NASD school board meeting, the same day that an Internet auction for the bonds is to be held. Settlement is to be Feb. 20, 2019.

School Director Dr. Michael Baird asked if NASD must provide insurance for the bond.

“Probably not,” Doyle said.

NASD saved about $41,000 by not having to provide bond insurance for the 2018 issuance because of its favorable AA3 rating by Moody’s Investors Service.

School Director Chuck Longacre asked about the bond financing.

“This is the wraparound situation. It gets the level amount of millage,” Doyle said.

The NASD administration included $400,000, or the equivalent of about 0.38 mill, toward Lehigh Elementary project financing in the 2018-19 district budget.

Just under $10 million, or $9,995,000, in the district’s annual fiscal year, over three fiscal years, plus a lesser amount for a fourth year, is to be raised through four bond offerings to finance the school project.

The district plans on another bond issue of $9,995,000 for 2020. The final bond issue, expected to be $5.9 million, would be issued for 2021.

Moody’s credit analysis summary, stated at the May 7 school board meeting when the first bond for the Lehigh Elementary School project was approved, concluded: “NASD’s moderately sized tax base will experience moderate growth as a new FedEx facility is added to the tax rolls for fiscal 2019. The district’s stable reserve position will remain strong in the near term due to conservative budgeting and active management.”

In other business at the Nov. 19 meeting, school directors voted unanimously 9-0 to approve, on recommendation of the administration:

The resignations of Charles Saul, head girls soccer coach, effective Nov. 6, and Adam Bastidas, boys head soccer coach, effective Nov. 12;

Extension of employment of Amy Wright, long-term substitute guidance counselor at Northampton Area High School, effective second semester of the 2018-19 school year at $290.97 per diem with benefits;

Nicole Fox, short-term substitute second-grade teacher at Siegfried Elementary School, effective Jan. 9 through March 22, 2019, at $125 per diem with no benefits;

Amy Deutsch, cafeteria monitor at Northampton Area Middle School, effective Nov. 20, at $12.59 per hour;

Revised master district volunteer list, 2018-19 school year;

Additions and deletions to the substitute listing, 2018-19 school year;

Revised mentor-inductee list, 2018-19 school year, including mentors and stipend payment;

Attendance of Catherine Salazar, Andrew Peartree, Genevieve Wilde and 10 Drama Club students at the Pennsylvania State Thespian Conference, Lansdale, Nov. 29 and 30 and Dec. 1, at a cost to NASD to not exceed $660;

Attendance of John Bendekovits, Jamie Horvath and Cornelius McHugh at the Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo & Conference, Hershey, Feb. 11-13, 2019, at an approximate cost of $1,669.82, included in the 2018-19 board-approved curriculum budget;

Adoption of the revised social media policy, effective Nov. 20;

D’Huy Engineering to prepare and solicit bids for replacement of the HVAC system in 1914 and 1999 sections at Colonel John Siegfried Elementary School;

D’Huy Engineering to prepare and solicit bids in comparison to a state-contracted purchasing option to replace 1960, 1963 and 1986 sections of roofing at NAHS;

Disposal of obsolete technology equipment and components by sale to Technology Exchange for $18,831;

Treasurer’s report;

Tax exonerations-changes; and

Bills for payment.

School directors voted 8-1 to approve, on recommendation of the administration, the NAHS 2019-20 program of studies.