Northern Lehigh School District appears as though it will recoup a sizable amount of money its owed from the State Department of Education.

Sherri Molitoris, co-director of business affairs/human resources, told school board on Monday that the district could receive a little over $370,000 by the end of January.The money is the result of back payments the district is owed for the district's $20.4 million renovation project at Slatington Elementary that was completed in 2012.Recently, the board approved the resolution in support of House Bill 2124, which calls for reform of the state's PlanCon system.Introduced by Rep. Seth Grove, the resolution amends the Public School Code to provide for a more modern, simplified, transparent and financially sustainable process of reimbursement, and is a significant step in solving an overly complicated problem that is costing school districts and taxpayers millions of dollars.House Bill 2124, along with an additional appropriation of state money, will begin to address the backlog of school district construction projects awaiting reimbursement.The district, upon recommendations from a feasibility study, began the project in 2009 to renovate Slatington Elementary and build an addition on an administration building to address the issues of an open concept education building, school safety, and a failing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system.The district submitted a Part H application on March 14, 2011, and has completed construction.No early retirementincentive planAlso on Monday, the board declined to offer an early retirement incentive plan to its professional employees.The board, on a 7-0 vote, rejected the plan for all eligible professional employees, on a voluntary basis, for the 2014-15 school year. Directors Gary Fedorcha and Robert Keegan Jr. were absent.This marks the fourth consecutive year the board has rejected the plan.In the 2010-11 school year, the district was able to offset a then $1.5 million shortfall through the creation of the plan, which saw 14 teachers agree to be included.The program asked those high-end teachers who accounted for about $111,000 per position to retire and not be replaced, which resulted in a savings of over $1 million in the district's fund balance and long-range plan at that time.Those teachers received a $25,000 incentive paid into a tax shelter account in two equal amounts of $12,500.One of the major components of that plan was to recommend that the board institute a retirement incentive for all teachers districtwide. As a result, the district was able to cut $1,506,000 from its salary and benefits budget at that time.The board also approved an agreement with AccuWeather for location-based warnings and on-demand weather briefings to aid in weather-related school cancellations and delays at a yearly cost of $1,600.