At the Whitehall-Coplay School Board meeting Aug. 5, James Hanna, project manager for D’Huy Engineering Inc., Bethlehem, gave a construction update on the work being done on Zephyr Stadium and Whitehall High School.

Weather permitting, the construction on the stadium, including the bleachers and lighting, should be finished before the first football game.

Work being done on the high school includes common spaces, such as the natatorium and auditorium, administration area, classrooms, boiler room and roof.

The natatorium and auditorium will be finished by November; the boiler room, shortly after school reopens; the gym and cafeteria, by Aug. 31; the secure vestibule and administration area, before the start of school; and the roof kettle is expected to be gone by Aug. 21.

Due to delays from the shutdown in March, Hanna said he and his team waited all summer for 26 unit ventilators to be delivered, so the classrooms could be completed. Hanna said 20 of them finally arrived and were hooked up July 29 and 30, the remaining six were delivered Aug. 6, and installation was expected to be finished by Aug. 10.

After the work is completed, WHS will have to be cleaned and set up for the start of school. Hanna said the project will come down to the last minute, but he and the tradesmen he is working with will overcome these challenges.

Hanna said while it has been tough to stay on schedule, it has really been a “team effort.”

Also, in relation to the construction work, the board approved change orders with JBM Mechanical Inc., Boro Developers Inc., Jottan Inc. and CMG of Easton Inc. The change orders come with no additional cost to Whitehall-Coplay School District.

In other news, approved retirements include Donald Steager, districtwide bus driver, and Tina Thieme, first-grade teacher at Gockley Elementary School.

Approved resignations include Donna Fye, cafeteria monitor at Zephyr Elementary School, and Stacy Kusko, first-grade teacher at Gockley Elementary.

New appointments include Kendra Kramer, temporary music teacher at Gockley, at $51,048 per year; and Kaitlyn Saylor, special education paraprofessional at Zephyr Elementary, at $19.59 per hour.