Catasauqua Area School District Board of Education met March 12 and said goodbye to two of its own.

Rodney and Christine Nace resigned from their positions as school board directors. It was noted they cited work conflicts as their reason for stepping down.

“They’ve been invaluable to our conversations,” Superintendent Robert Spengler said.

Spengler said the district will advertise the two open seats and hold public interviews at a future school board meeting.

Spengler noted the district has been hearing concerns regarding the Race Street and Willowbrook Road intersection. It has been mentioned that people traveling eastbound down Race Street have great difficulty turning left onto Willowbrook Road to access Catasauqua High School.

In response to these concerns, Spengler reported he reached out to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and asked that it install a left-turn arrow to assist with those making the turn. According to Spengler, PennDOT will review the request and do a traffic study.

Sheckler Elementary School Principal Eric Dauberman named the Students of the Month for February. They include Cooper DeWalt and Milana Sankari from first grade, Carter Gonzalez and McKenna Marinkovitz from second grade, Jackson Krencs and Eva Zimmerman from third grade and Taberak Algburi and Elijah Tomecek from fourth grade.

Melissa Inselmann, principal at Catasauqua Middle School, recognized the Star Players of the Month for February. They are Hailey Jenkins, fifth grade; Daniel Jones, sixth grade; Makayla Mark, seventh grade; and Cheyenne Gioielli, eighth grade.

Kathleen Kotran, coordinator of instructional technology and federal programs, provided the board with a state and federal grant overview for the 2018-19 school year, including Title I, Title II, Art Innovation, Ready to Learn and Weller Center grants. The total number of state and federal grants awarded to the school district is more than $1 million.

Spengler’s 2019-20 budgetary overview revolved around the district’s goals. The districtwide needs assessment completed at the end of the 2017-18 school year provided the district with a guide for planning the budget. Some of the priorities include enhancing programming, security updates and technology. There are also operational needs, such as a new bus and locker replacements, and other needs, including a vision screener and band uniforms at the high school. Spengler noted it is still early in the process and the numbers will likely shift.

School board members voted unanimously to approve the new career planning guide at the high school. CHS Principal Adam Schnug thanked the board for the approval.

The board approved the 2019-20 budgets for Lehigh Carbon Community College, Lehigh Career and Technical Institute and Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21. The operational budget for LCCC is $57,012,317, and the school district’s sponsor share will be $171,089. The operational budget for LCTI is $27,666,000, and the school district’s sponsor share will be $793,335. The operational budget for CLIU 21 is $3,104,595, and the school district’s sponsor share will be $24,872.

The board approved the retirements of Deborah Elek at Sheckler Elementary, Thomas Riegel at CMS and James Schaffer at CHS. Elek has 31 years of service, Riegel has 21, and Schaffer has 34.

It was approved to have student teacher Jessica Sattele, from DeSales University, work with kindergarten teacher Melissa Grube from March 11 to April 26.

School board members voted unanimously to approve the Future Business Leaders of America/Business Club, which started during the 2018-19 school year.

Among other approvals was the awarding of the lawn care bid. Approval was given to Zachary Bittner, from Perfection Landscaping and Lawn Care, for a three-year contract.

Robert Arnold, band director at CHS, reported on the upcoming Disney trip, which will be April 13-20. The band and choir students will perform in different parks, including at the Magic Kingdom parade. The students will also take clinics with Disney musicians, Arnold said, adding that this gives them the opportunity to learn from the professional musicians.

“Thank you for approving this and allowing us to showcase Catasauqua,” Arnold said to the board members.

There will be a hearing regarding the charter renewal for Innovative Arts Academy Charter School 6 p.m. April 16 at the administrative building, 201 N. 14th St. If needed, there will be an additional hearing at the same time and place April 23.

The school board will next meet 7 p.m. April 9 in the administrative building.