For the first time in four years, Northern Lehigh School District has come up short in its bid to meet Adequate Yearly Progress.

Assistant Superintendent Karen Nicholas informed the school board on Monday that the district failed to meet AYP, a key measure of school performance established by the Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.Nicholas said that while both Slatington Elementary and Peters Elementary met AYP, the middle school and high school did not."We're very strongly concerned about this," Nicholas said. "Our goal for the future is to continue to improve the knowledge and skills of our students by utilizing assessments that measure their growth and to deliver instruction and a curriculum that is flexible and ongoing."Nicholas said the elementary test scores show that grades 3-5 met 16 out of 16 targets; the middle school met 15 out of 16, and the high school met six of 12.As a result, she said the district needs to make some curriculum changes, and added that several administrators met recently with Dr. Angelo Senese, a professor at East Stroudsburg University."We had some rigorous discussion; we created an action plan," she said. "Our administration developed this plan so that we can best serve our students grades K-12."Data collection, making sure the curriculum is aligned, and making professional development decisions, are some of the components of the action plan, Nicholas said.Nicholas then asked building principals to discuss their strategies for the 2012-13 school year.High school Principal Robert Vlasaty said that he and Assistant Principal Scott Pyne plan to better utilize technology as part of data-based decisions."We're very disappointed with these results," Vlasaty said. "We need to revamp our curriculum to shore up the deficiencies, and have our advanced students achieve more also."Middle school Principal Jill Chamberlain said the plan is to continue to utilize data teams at the middle school to collect the data from Study Island, teacher assessments, and to improve upon their math through remediation classes for students in need.Afterward, Superintendent Michael Michaels noted that the district must be resilient."We have to be flexible and change curriculums," Michaels said. "As we all know, the tests are going to become more and more difficult."In order to achieve AYP, schools and districts must meet target percentages with all students, as well as with every subgroup of 40 or more students, scoring at the Advanced or Proficient level.To make AYP, a school or district must meet three target areas: attendance or graduation rate depending on the level of the school; participation rate, and performance on the PSSA.In other business, the board:• Approved the request of employee #4650 to take a family medical leave beginning on, or about, Oct. 22, 2012, for the birth of her second child. She will be using accumulated sick days for the six week post partum leave, and upon conclusion of sick days, will then be requesting a 12-week family medical leave. She plans to return to her current teaching position on, or about, March 1, 2013.• Approved the following substitute teachers for the 2012-13 school year at the 2012-13 substitute teacher rates as approved on the Supplementary Personnel Salary Schedule: Nike Belcastro Albanese, CLIU Guest Teacher; Annette Benedetto, CLIU Guest Teacher; Patricia Bollinger, elementary; Andrea Fella, elementary; Peggy Gallagher, elementary; JoLynn Gazo, CLIU Guest Teacher; Nicole Gause, elementary; Amanda Gestl, elementary; Karen Haberern, elementary; Sara Heffner, elementary; Ines Heuser, CLIU Guest Teacher; Jill Hudish, elementary/middle level math/English; Thomas Krulick, CLIU Guest Teacher; Asimo Long, CLIU Guest Teacher; Roderick Lowe, CLIU Guest Teacher; Seth McLaughlin, CLIU Guest Teacher; Stephanie Mohr, CLIU Guest Teacher; Erwin Prutzman, Business Education; Michael Roth, CLIU Guest Teacher; Roobhenn Smith, CLIU Guest Teacher; Samantha Sontag, elementary/middle level science; Patricia Sottolano, CLIU Guest Teacher; Randall Utsch, CLIU Guest Teacher; and Samantha Yelles, elementary. The appointments of Gause, Gestl, and Yelles are pending verification of missing documents.• Approved Deborah Handwerk as substitute secretary, and substitute cafeteria worker, for the 2012-13 school year at the 2012-13 substitute rate approved on the Supplementary Personnel Salary Schedule.• Approved Shawn Rios as substitute custodian for the 2012-13 school year at the 2012-13 substitute rate as approved on the Supplementary Personnel Salary Schedule.• Acknowledged that teachers Rachel Reiter and Amy Zeiser have completed the requirements per the Collective Bargaining Agreement that would entitle them to a salary increase for the 2012-13 school year. Reiter went from Step 5B to Step 5B +24, while Zeiser went from Step 8B +24 to Step 8M.• Approved Stephen Shuey as Artistic Director for the fall play/spring musical for the NLHS Student Theater Group, at a stipend of $1,500, to be paid out of the high school student activities fund. Shuey will be responsible for, and overseeing all, persons involved with set design and construction, costuming, lighting, sound, etc., as determined by the high school principal and production director.• Approved a stipend in the amount of $500 for Andrew Kern for the high school website maintenance, and working with students during the 2012-13 school year. Kern has constant contact with teachers, secretaries, and administrators in an effort to update the website on a daily basis with the latest information, handouts, and scheduled events. The stipend will be funded by the Student Activities Fund.