During the Dec. 9 Catasauqua Area School District Board of Education meeting, CASD Superintendent Dr. Christina Lutz-Doemling reported the district has been recognized as a leader for career readiness in the state. She noted this is a testament to the board, administration, teachers and staff for their efforts from the top down to serve the students and prepare them for life after school.

“I think we can all be very proud,” she said.

Sheckler Elementary School Principal Dr. Robert Kucharczuk introduced the December Students of the Month — Angela Domche, Tessa Bright, Sophia Keller, Mila Palus, Ashton Murphy and Zaiden Diaz.

The school district received a $10,000 donation from Lehigh Valley Educators Credit Union, presented by board Vice President Jillian Emert, who also serves as Lehigh Valley Educators membership officer. She also thanked Lutz-Doemling for her cooperation and responses.

Board members noted the Suburban North Family YMCA building, 880 Walnut St., will be closing the first week in January and questioned how this will affect the school district. It was noted the before- and after-school programs will still happen, just at different locations. There was also a question about making plans for summer programs.

Solicitor David Knerr discussed district policies. The first readings were approved for policy 702 regarding gifts, grants and donations and policy 201.1 regarding foreign exchange students.

The board also approved the second reading of policy 710 regarding video surveillance and recording. Knerr noted they already use video recording in the district for the protection of students, staff, guests and assets. The video is only used for district needs in public spaces and is accessed only by the administration.

Board members approved the resignation of Crystal Manning, general kitchen help at Catasauqua Middle School, and rescinded the employment offer for Tori Heffelfinger, a noncertified instructional aide at Sheckler. Dorianne Gogal was appointed as a general kitchen help at CMS.

Changes in employment status were approved. The moves are Chad Renner from daily building substitute to short-term substitute at CMS, Dru Chunko from custodian A floater to custodian A and Brian Byrd from substitute teacher to short-term substitute at Catasauqua High School.

Two student teachers/interns were also approved. Zac Morris, of Kutztown University, will work with CJ Matz in art Jan. 26-March 20, 2026, and Juliana Casto, of Kutztown, will work with Kucharczuk Jan. 19-May 4, 2026.

Jonathan Cordon-Pinto was approved as a volunteer assistant boys wrestling coach.

The board approved Emert to serve as the district representative on Lehigh Career and Technical Institute’s board of directors, with Jamie Nattress to serve as the alternate.

Business Manager Lindsey Wallace noted the state budget finally passed, and subsidies are already coming in to the district.

Assistant Superintendent Eric Dauberman reported they met with Alloy5 about the Sheckler addition project. He said they discussed a timeline, and regular updates will be shared.

The board approved training providers Donna Kohls and Stephanie Fernandes for bus driver training at a rate of $35 an hour.

Overnight student athletic trips were approved for the varsity girls and boys teams to attend a tournament in early January in Maryland. Music teacher Robert Arnold was also approved to attend the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association state conference.

Board members Lauren Cieslak and Nattress thanked the schools for returning to sending home paper report cards and for including benchmarks to help the parents be more involved. Cieslak noted it is so much easier to celebrate and recognize their children’s hard work with paper copies they can hang on the fridge or show family, versus just having the online version. She added this is important for the self-esteem of the students.

Additionally, both noted they heard a lot of positive feedback from other parents about the additional information included to increase understanding and knowledge of the specific benchmarks to help connect the parents with the educational process.

The board next meets 7 p.m. Jan. 13, 2026, in the district administration board room, 201 N. 14th St.