A proposal to stop funding Northampton Area Public Library is expected to be introduced at the next Northampton Area School District Board of Education meeting.

The school board finance committee voted unanimously 3-0 to advance the proposal to end district funding of NAPL at the June 4 finance committee meeting in the Northampton Area High School library conference room.

“I would like to put that motion to remove the library funding,” finance committee member school Director Kristin Soldridge said at the meeting.

Soldridge’s motion was seconded by finance committee member school Director Jamie Marchiano. They and finance committee member school Director Joshua Harris approved the proposal at the committee meeting.

Soldridge, in a text response to a question by a reporter for Northampton Press, confirmed she plans to introduce the motion to end district funding of NAPL at the 6:30 p.m. June 15 meeting, to be held at NAHS, 1619 Laubach Ave., Northampton.

The finance committee seeks to end $270,000 annual funding provided by NASD to NAPL. A majority of the nine-member school board would need to approve ending the funding. The NASD 2026-27 proposed final budget includes $270,000 in annual NAPL funding.

The school board voted 5-4 to adopt the proposed final budget at its May 11 meeting. Voting “yes” for the proposed final budget were school board President John Becker and board Vice President David Gogel and school Directors Dr. Michael Baird, Ross Makary and Fran Shehab. Voting “no” for the proposed final budget were school Directors Zachary Kromer, Harris, Marchiano and Soldridge.

Prior to the vote on the proposed final budget at the May 11 school board meeting, a motion for the district to decrease funding for NAPL was defeated by a 5-4 vote. Marchiano made the motion, seconded by Kromer, to reduce the public library funding by $135,000, a 50% reduction. Voting “no” to reduce library funding were Becker, Gogel, Baird, Makary and Shehab, school board representative on the NAPL board. Voting “yes” to cut library funding were Marchiano, Kromer, Harris and Soldridge.

NASD Business Administrator Craig Neiman reviewed the 2026-27 budget adoption at the June 4 finance committee meeting, which he chaired.

The proposed final budget has a general fund of $149,233,848, supported by a rate of 60.97 mills. The rate of 60.97 mills is a 2.45-mill increase from 58.52 mills, for an increase of 4.2%, from the budget for the 2025-26 school year in NASD.

Based on the NASD median assessed homestead of $61,100, the property tax bill for the 2026-27 school year would be $3,725.27. With the NASD homestead deduction of $198.65, the net tax bill would be $3,526.62, a net increase of $149.45 annually.

At the May 11 school board meeting, school directors voted unanimously 9-0 to approve five resignations for retirement: Julie DeGroot, 10-month secretary, NAHS, effective June 12; Mary Fribance, instructional assistant, Moore Elementary School, effective June 4; Gail Umstead, instructional assistant, Moore Elementary, effective June 4; Doris Miller, custodian, Siegfried Elementary School, effective Aug. 4; and Deborah Green, technology technician, Northampton Area School District Technology Office, effective Oct. 9.

School directors also voted 9-0 at the meeting May 11 to approve the resignations of Giovanna DeMatteo, 1:1 instructional assistant, Northampton Area Middle School, effective June 4; Hayley Jackson, speech therapist, NAMS, as of June 5; and Jonathan Lynch, math teacher, NAMS, effective June 5.

Other 9-0 approvals at the May 11 meeting included the following.

• Lauren Cicale, guidance counselor, NAHS, effective Aug. 17, at $88,722

• Kaitlyn Leh, school-based behavioral health counselor, effective July 1-June 30, 2027, at $71,021, with benefits, at no cost to NASD. The position will be paid through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency Competitive Safety Grant: Meeting Behavioral Health Baseline Criteria Needs

• Renetta Feist, family and consumer science teacher at NAHS, Aug. 17-Jan. 29, 2027, at $66,055, with no benefits

• Ashley Rolles, elementary speech and language pathologist, effective Aug. 17, at $69,203, with benefits

• Jameel Seymour Jr., head girls’ basketball coach, effective May 12, at $14,276

• Library workers and their compensation for family engagement summer book program, George Wolf Elementary School, with salaries to be paid through 2025-26 Title I grant

• List of teachers and instructional assistants to provide extended school year and Chapter 15, Section 504 services for summer

• Security guard and hall monitor employees to work at NAHS, NAMS and Siegfried Elementary during the summer, allowing other guards to substitute at their regular hourly pay rate and, if necessary, substitute at the approved substitute rate of pay

The NASD 2026-27 proposed final budget is available for public inspection at the NASD Administration Building, 2014 Laubach Ave., Northampton, and on the NASD website, nasdschools.org.