Still awaiting a ninth member, the Lehighton Area School District board of directors deadlocked on another vote Monday night concerning the future of its four elementary schools.

First-year board member Richard Beltz made a presentation blasting a previous board's decision to borrow $32.5 million for a new K-5 elementary center.A motion followed to have engineering firm Barry Isett and Associates come up with a cost for repairing and renovating East Penn, Franklin, Shull-David and Mahoning elementary schools.The motion failed after a 4-4 vote. Beltz, Byron Arner, Marianne Dwyer and Hal Resh voted yes, while Wayne Wentz, Andrew Yenser, Gloria Bowman and Stephen Holland were opposed.Repairs and renovationDuring his presentation, Beltz told the board that he and Arner toured all four schools and said while they are dated, they appeared to be in good shape."There are no structural issues and no code violations right now," Beltz said. "Franklin has a leaky roof, which is currently under warranty. The bathrooms need to be updated, we need security cameras and better control of temperature inside the building. I recommend updating our existing schools and providing a safe, comfortable learning environment for students."Students need three things to be able to learn efficiently, Beltz said."They need to be comfortable, be able to see the board and hear what is going on," he said. "We'd like to have the maintenance staff test the lighting and sound quality in the classrooms before the next board meeting."Low-cost methods of controlling the classroom temperature, he added, could be "using fans, opening windows, moving desks away from windows, allowing students to bring bottled water to class and avoiding strenuous activities on the warmest days."Beltz said if the district paid back the $32.5 million bond for the elementary center early, it would incur a $3.5 million penalty. That, he added, would result in a $20.5 million savings over the 30-year life of the bond."The town came out and voted in November," Beltz said. "They elected three fiscally responsible people and it's time we clean up the mess created by the previous board. Having elementary school children attending schools that need updating while blowing $5 million on an unnecessary athletic stadium is a slap in the face to the children, parents and taxpayers. Rushing to borrow $32.5 million while knowing that the majority of voters didn't want an elementary center shows how arrogant the leadership of the previous board was."Disputing commentsBowman, who served as board president in 2014 and 2015, said previous renovation plans at the four schools were halted due to septic issues."The previous board voted to stop that process because nobody wanted to open up that system," she said. "This goes back to 2013. The projects at these schools are bigger than just doing some repairs."District maintenance employees are constantly chasing down things like pipe leaks and boiler repairs, according to Joe Hauser, Lehighton's director of buildings and grounds."The systems in these buildings are 62 years old," Hauser said. "You can't get parts for half the stuff anymore. It's hard chasing this stuff down every day, but you bring any of my maintenance guys in here and they'll tell you we fix everything as we go and that includes getting custom parts made."Wentz said it would take 10-12 years to fix the elementary schools, while an elementary center would be ready to go in three years."They're talking about caulking windows and patching potholes," he said of Beltz, Arner and Dwyer. "They got elected on wholesale renovations and now they're changing their minds."Immediate repairs would be done first, Arner said, while renovations would be done as the district had money to do them.Cost of repairA feasibility study by the EI Associates architectural firm in 2014 pegged renovations of all four buildings at $32.5 million, the same as an elementary center, but Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said the bill to fix the school would likely be higher today."We calculated the cost per square foot that it is costing us to renovate our middle school right now," Cleaver said. "If you apply that to the plans we discussed for fixing the four schools and adding additional space, we're looking at around $37 million."Beltz said those plans include things like a new roof on every school and other items which he doesn't feel are necessary."It does all depend on what someone views as a want and what someone views as a need," Cleaver said. "To me, a roof on those schools is a need. A new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system in those buildings is a need."Resh questioned Cleaver on outside interest in the current elementary buildings should the district go with an elementary center."The only offer we have in writing right now is from the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit for Franklin Elementary," he said.At a previous buildings and grounds committee meeting, that offer was quoted at $90,000 per year.Board vacancy updateFive district residents have filed petitions seeking appointment to the open seat on the board.They include Larry Stern, David Krause, Duane R. Eidem, Stacey Lynn Duerst and Dave Bradley.President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II has set a 9 a.m. hearing for March 4."He did not set a deadline for receiving petitions," Lehighton solicitor William Schwab said.