A two-year contract extension approved Monday night will take Jonathan Cleaver's run as Lehighton Area School District superintendent through at least the 2017-18 school year.

By a 7-1 vote, with director Hal Resh absent, Cleaver will receive a 2.27 percent salary increase at $132,000 for the 2016-17 school year and a 2.22 percent increase at $135,000 for the 2017-18 school year.All other terms of Cleaver's contract remain the same, according to the memorandum of understanding."I want to thank the board for having confidence and faith in me to be a leader," Cleaver said.William Hill Jr. was the lone board member to vote down the extension and offered no comment regarding the action.Though voting to give Cleaver an extra two years, Rocky Ahner said he would like to see him focus more on the educational side of things such as a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) program."To me, this is just too far ahead of time," Ahner said. "As for the overall education we're moving in the right direction, but students need hands on STEM type classes in our middle school such as wood and metal shops with basic electrical, plumbing, etc., to promote Carbon Career & Technical Institute. Without this I'm not comfortable, but it's also not healthy for the education of our students to change superintendents every four years."The district is currently in the midst of three building projects, a proposed elementary center and renovations to the middle and high schools, which could total over $52 million.Cleaver said his evaluation is posted on the Lehighton Area School District website at

www.lehighton.org."My goals are listed there and they can always be adjusted," he said."Looking at my goals, it's not just a me thing, it's a team thing. If the board decides they want to put more effort into STEM and that area, we can do that."Cleaver's goals listed on the website include design an aligned curriculum and administer a program(s) that supports high-quality academic programs and aligns with the new PA Core Standards.The goals are broken down into categories including student growth and achievement, district operations/financial management, community relation and professionalism.Under student growth and achievement, the goals are:• Support staff on revising districtwide curriculum maps for all subject areas (K-12) as to align to the Pennsylvania core standards,• Provide programs, resources, and the time to develop Student Learning Objectives for the staff as required from Pennsylvania Department of Education,• Work with administration to develop programs and opportunities that integrate college and career ready skills, and• Ensure that the data collected for monitoring student progress will drive instructional decisions to improve student learning and/or outcomes.Five board members, although the form does not indicate who, completed the individual goal section of Cleaver's 2013-14 evaluation."(Cleaver) is knowledgeable, professional at all times and willing to move LASD forward in areas of achievement, student and community offerings, and the upgrade of school buildings and new buildings, while being fiscally responsible to the community," the evaluation states. "Mr. Cleaver needs to continue working on a vision for the district utilizing more strategic processes as well as communicate the overall progress of the district in areas of educational progress, staffing needs, new programs, etc."Ahner clarified that he does have confidence in Cleaver's ability to lead the district."I was one of the people who were 100 percent for Mr. Cleaver coming here and I felt he could retire here," he said. "I still feel that way."Lehighton hired Cleaver as superintendent in June 2012.He earned $120,000 in the 2012-13 school year, $123,000 in 2013-14, $126,000 this school year and is scheduled to earn $129,000 in 2015-16.Board member Wayne Wentz spoke up Monday night in favor of Cleaver."I think he's doing a great job and, to me, we're getting him at a discount compared to the last guy who was here," Wentz said."He doesn't take insurance and mileage like the last superintendent did."