Moore Elementary School will close for the Northampton Area School District 2026-27 academic year — but will be open this fall for the 2025-26 school year.

Moore Elementary and the district-owned 17.75-acre campus, 2835 Mountain View Drive (Route 946), Moore Township, will not be sold.

The Franklin, district administration and Washington Technology Center buildings will close for the 2026-27 school year, and the three buildings will be listed for sale. These three buildings will be open and in use for the 2025-26 school year.

Technology and administration relocates to the East Allen Elementary School complex, Route 329 and Seemsville Road, which is to open for the 2026-27 school year.

At the July 21 meeting, the NASD Board of Education voted 6-3 to close Moore Elementary. Voting yes to close Moore and, according to the agenda item, for “the district (to) retain ownership of Moore Elementary and the surrounding property (and) reopen as a school at a date to be determined by the board of education” were school board Vice President Nathan Lichtenwalner and school Directors Ross Makary, Doug Vaughn, Dr. Michael Baird, John Becker and Parker Flamisch. Voting no were school board President Kristin Soldridge and school Directors Joshua Harris and Brian McCulloch.

In three separate votes on each building, school directors voted unanimously 9-0 to “approve the closure of Franklin Elementary School, the district administration building and the Washington Technology Center for the 2026-27 school year (and) further approve listing the following district buildings for sale: Franklin Elementary School, the district administration building and the Washington Technology Center.”

The board voted 9-0 on a motion by Vaughn and seconded by Harris to amend the meeting agenda to take four separate votes concerning each building.

Before that vote, Harris made a motion, seconded by McCulloch, to hold a separate vote on Moore.

“I’d like to ask that we vote on the closing of the three buildings and the closing of Moore separately,” Harris said before the votes.

“I do not believe that Moore should be closed. I don’t feel Moore will ever open again. I feel the other three buildings should be closed,” McCulloch said before the votes. “My vote (on Moore) is symbolic. What sealed the fate of Moore is the Route 329 project.”

“If we do vote to close Moore, what is the backup plan? We’ve already decided that we don’t have the money to open all the schools and Moore,” Flamisch said before the votes.

“I think this district will need five (elementary) schools. I’m not sure when, but there will be a need,” NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik said before the votes during the July 21 school board meeting in the Northampton Area High School auditorium.

For the 2025-26 school year, NASD has Moore, George Wolf, Siegfried, Franklin and Lehigh elementary schools.

For the 2026-27 school year, NASD will have East Allen, George Wolf, Siegfried and Lehigh elementary schools.

“We’ve been talking about redistricting. Every one of those schools will be affected,” Kovalchik said.

On a recent drive around the district, Kovalchik said he noticed new housing projects in Cherryville, at approximately $550,000 per house; in East Allen Township, with approximately 100 homes of 4,000 square feet at $950,000 per house; and at Willowbrook, with approximately 500 units.

“When the kids will come in, who knows? I’m talking about the next five to 10 years,” Kovalchik said.

Kovalchik said numerous factors figure into the closing of the Moore, Franklin, administration and Washington buildings and the opening of East Allen Elementary, including the relocation of computer equipment and associated services and furniture.

“We’re going to be moving next summer (2026),” Kovalchik said. “When you close or open a building, you have to get PDE (Pennsylvania Department of Education) approval.”

Redistricting will affect staffing and enrollment. Multiple meetings concerning redistricting continue in the administration. The district consultant is FutureThink, of Columbus, Ohio, which specializes in educational facility planning.

“By Thanksgiving, everyone will know (about redistricting). When you do something like this, you want to be 99.9% correct,” Kovalchik said. “The board is going to have to decide what to do with the Moore building. If you keep Moore, it’s going to cost money to keep it open,” Kovalchik said, referring to, for example, the building’s heating system, water and sewer service, maintenance and security. “Those discussions will start in August. I do expect a decision by the end of the year.

“It’s not just Moore and when it’s going to open again. It’s going to open again. That’s just my opinion,” Kovalchik added.

The NASD facilities committee is scheduled to meet 6 p.m. Aug. 18 in the library conference room at NAHS, 1619 Laubach Ave.

The board of education will meet 6:30 p.m. Aug. 11 in the auditorium at NAHS.