A new teachers contract has been approved in Northampton Area School District that provides for an average 2.9-percent pay hike over the life of the five-year contract.

NASD Board of Education members voted 8-0, with one school director absent, at its Feb. 25 meeting to approve the contract. There was no discussion by board members before or after the vote. The vote on the contract was a last-minute addition to the agenda.

Northampton Area Educators Association voted to approve the new contract earlier in the day Feb. 25.

“I got a call at 5:45 p.m. (Feb. 25) from Gene Thrash, president of the NAEA, that the teachers voted to approve the contract,” NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik told a reporter for Northampton Press after the Feb. 25 school board meeting.

The contract is for the 2018-19 school year through the 2023-24 school year. The starting salary for an NASD teacher in the 2019-20 school year is $52,000 without benefits.

“I appreciate the professionalism and the communication from the NAEA during the negotiations process,” Kovalchik said. “And I applaud the teachers wholeheartedly for the amount of genuine care they show on a daily basis.

“The district has made great progress in all areas over the past several years. The teachers have been an integral part of that progress. Academic scores have increased, and new technology devices and curriculum have been introduced to enhance student learning. In addition, they are required to be well versed on new safety procedures, mental health, substance and social media concerns, along with many other individual and societal concerns. Today’s education is not just about assisting students in the classroom, but outside the classroom as well, which our teachers have done and will continue to do in the future,” Kovalchik said.

Negotiations between a committee representing the teachers and a committee of school board members and administrators began in the fall of 2018. Four negotiation sessions were held through January. There are approximately 365 teachers in NASD.

In other business, school directors voted 6-2 to approve a revised graduation requirements policy.

Directors Chuck Longacre and Robert Mentzell cast the two “no” votes.

Explaining his vote during the meeting, Longacre said, “We’ve eliminated all language requirements, which are necessary to get into college.”

Kovalchik disagreed, saying, “We are not eliminating world language from the curriculum. Students may choose, if guided by guidance counselors or their parents, to choose a language. It starts in the eighth grade.”

NASD Assistant to the Superintendent Robert J. Steckel Jr. said, “The only change is that we’re in alignment with the Class of 2020.”

Kovalchik asked Steckel if the policy was approved by the district policy committee, and Steckel confirmed it was.

Kovalchik mentioned that 24 credits are still required for graduation from Northampton Area High School.

“All of the world languages are the same,” Kovalchik said. “The change has allowed students to choose what they’re interested in. Remember, the end goal is to provide students with options. It’s up to the students, with the assistance of the guidance counselor, teacher and parents to decide if they want to take a world language course.”

The world language classes offered are Spanish, French and German 1, 2, 3 and 4 and advanced placement.

Exploration in what languages to study begins for students in the eighth grade.

Longacre said NASD had three education tracks: honors, advanced and vo-tech. Honors and advanced were combined into a traditional track, with vo-tech still separate, resulting in two education tracks.

“We don’t have a requirement in the traditional track,” said Longacre.

“The only thing we did was to adjust the policy to be in line with the updated state requirements,” Steckel said.

NASD was given good marks by William H. Gorman Jr., CPA, Gorman & Associates PC, in his presentation to the board of the 2017-18 audit report.

“You have a good report as you have in the past,” Gorman said.

In his 20-minute presentation, Gorman detailed the district’s fund balance and other financial matters. Gorman said his audit issues some eight separate opinions about district finances, including the areas of government, business, student activities and employee benefit funds, among others.

“You have clear opinions across the board,” Gorman said.

Gorman detailed changes in requirements in government accounting reporting, the so-called governmentwide financial statements.

The NASD school board next meets 6:30 p.m. March 11 in the meeting room of the administration building.