The Northampton Area School District Board of Education facilities committee is recommending the sale of Moore Elementary School and its property. The facilities committee voted 3-1 at its Jan. 20 meeting to recommend selling the school.

Voting in favor of selling Moore were school Directors Ross Makary and Zachary Kromer and board President John Becker. Voting against selling Moore was school Director Joshua Harris. The four school directors serve on the facilities committee.

The facilities committee recommendation may be on the agenda of the next NASD school board meeting, set for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 9 in the auditorium at Northampton Area High School, 1619 Laubach Ave.

The school board will make the final decision on Moore.

The facilities committee was presented with five options for Moore by Jonathan Jenny, NASD director of operations, who chaired the meeting held in the NAHS library conference room.

The options and estimated costs include the following.

1. Keep Moore open with a one-time cost of $114,000 and an annual cost of $365,000.

2. Close Moore with a one-time cost of $15,000 and an annual cost of $45,000.

3. Demolish Moore with a one-time cost of $2 million and an annual cost of $20,000.

4. A partial use of Moore, including the gymnasium and cafeteria, with a one-time cost of $660,000 and an annual cost of $95,000.

5. Sell the Moore building and its land.

Four of the five options were presented at previous facilities committee meetings. The fifth option, to sell Moore, is new to the facilities committee.

Kromer, Makary and Becker backed the fifth option; Harris backed the third option.

“I thought we had decided on (number) 3,” Makary said.

“As far as I know, the recommendation to the board was to demolish it,” Harris said.

“Why tear it down and spend $2 million?” Becker asked.

“From an economic standpoint, number 5 makes sense,” Makary said. “You know we said we’d keep it open ... We are going against something that was promised.”

“We’re $12 million in the hole. We don’t have a lot of money to spare. Do I want a Moore Township school? Yes, but we need all the money we can get,” Becker said.

“(Number) 5 is our only logical option,” Kromer said.

The 2026-27 NASD preliminary budget, unveiled at the Jan. 12 school board meeting, foresees a $12.7 million deficit based on expenditures of $154.8 million and revenue of $142.1 million.

The budget includes $2 million set aside for Moore renovations, which has also been looked at to pay for a possible demolition.

“Obviously, we can’t keep the school (Moore), but we can keep the land,” Harris said.

Complicating the Moore school site are its well water and sewer systems. The sewer system has been grandfathered. It may no longer meet Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection regulations. If the system is not used for two years, a permit for a new system might be required.

Additionally, the back, or southern area, of the Moore site is said to be wetlands.

The $75.8 million East Allen Elementary School and Education Center, at Route 329 and Seemsville Road in East Allen Township, is set to open for the 2026-27 school year.

The NASD redistricting plan for 2026-27, posted Sept. 16, 2025, on the district website, states that, with the opening of the new school and educational center, NASD will close and sell the district administration building, Franklin Elementary School and Washington Technology Center, all in Northampton Borough.

“I think if we’re going to have the other properties appraised, we should have Moore appraised,” Kromer said.

Jenny estimated the appraised value of the Moore property at $1 to $2 million.

The redistricting plan states, concerning Moore: “The school will close effective for the 2026-27 school year but will reopen at a date to be determined by the board of education. The school will either be totally renovated or built new. The building and land will not be sold. Students will be relocated to other district elementary schools.”

The NASD school board voted to close Moore at its July 21, 2025, meeting, reversing a Jan. 13, 2025, vote to renovate Moore for $51 million.

Moore Elementary School is on 17.75 acres at 2835 Mountain View Drive, Moore Township, in the northeast of the 97.3-square-mile school district. It is a one-story building, with a two-story classroom, for a total of 97,600-square feet. There were additions and/or renovations in 1966, 1972 and 2001.

An estimated 200 people attended an April 4, 2024, town hall meeting at Moore Elementary School to discuss its fate.

Former Moore Elementary School Principal Dr. Katherine Mack, who attended the Jan. 20 facilities meeting, said, “Who’s going to buy it (Moore)? For what? It makes sense to sell it short term. But it doesn’t make sense long term.

“It’s too bad that this wasn’t done a year ago. The public was kept hanging on,” Mack said.

“Things change. Circumstances change. The economics change,” Becker said.

Also discussed at the Jan. 20 facilities committee was the yearly work order review, the new high school auditorium stage curtain that was installed during the holiday break, Erdosy Stadium turf field replacement and the NAHS roof restoration.

The NASD facilities committee is next set to meet 6 p.m. Feb. 17 in the NAHS library conference room.