Lehighton Area School Board reluctantly accepted the resignation of Business Administrator J. Michael Malay Jr. this week.

"Our school district is very fortunate to have had Mike as our business administrator," said Superintendent Jonathan J. Cleaver. "We are very solvent because of what he has done for us the past five years."Malay, who joined the district in 2008, is moving on to Whitehall-Coplay School District, where he has been approved for a five-year contract to serve as business manager there.He graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor of science degree in accounting and is a certified public accountant. Malay spent 12 years in public and corporate financial management before serving seven years as assistant business manager for Northwestern Lehigh School District.Malay was hired as Lehighton Area School District business administrator in 2008. His resignation goes into effect on or before Feb. 7, 2014. The schooldistrict is currently seeking his replacement."I have an awful lot of respect for Mike and I've learned a lot from him," summed up Cleaver. "Mike will be missed."In other personnel matters, the school board also accepted the resignation of Mary Ehrlacher as part-time cleaner assigned to Lehighton Area Middle School, effective March 28, 2014.As newly-elected school board president, Gloria Bowman made the following committee appointments.The Negotiations and Personnel Committee will be chaired by Larry Stern. Hal Resh will chair the Budget and Finance Committee.Chairing both the Building and Grounds Committee and the Athletic Committee will be Wayne Wentz. The Policy/Academics Committee will be chaired by Bowman. Rocky Ahner will chair both the Legislative Policy Committee and the Wellness Committee.Additional appointments include Bowman to the Advisory Committee of Title I and Thomas Zimmerman to the Lehighton Area Memorial Library Board.The school board approved Ahner to attend the National School Board Association's Conference as the Pennsylvania delegate. The conference will take place in Washington, DC.Cleaver pointed out, "This is a great opportunity for our district."In other business, the school board hired Portnoff and Associates to verify taxes and collect 2013 delinquent school taxes for Mahoning Township.Lehighton Area School Board has scheduled a public workshop meeting to address building projects for Monday, Jan. 13. The next regular meeting of the school board is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 27. Both meetings will take place at 7 p.m. at LASD Administration Building, Conference Room A.