A request for a half-day kindergarten teacher in the Palmerton Area School District has been rebuffed.

The decision to not approve the position at the Parkside Education Center was announced at a workshop meeting of the board of school directors on Tuesday.That came after Principal Mary Brumbach stated "our numbers are fluctuating by the day. They're going up and down."However, board President Tammy Recker told Brumbach the recommendation of new Superintendent Scot Engler was to not add the teacher.Engler said that upon his review, the number of students per classroom are not out of line, and that "based on our numbers, it's not such that we need an additional person."Also on Tuesday, Engler announced that an honors chemistry II class will not be offered at the high school this coming school year.Engler said that decision was due to student enrollment, as well as the fact that "we don't have an honors chem II teacher available for the position."In an unrelated matter, business manager Diane Serfass gave a brief budget update.Serfass said that as a result of the governor's budget, the school district will now see a $13,750 increase in basic education funding.The district's amount will increase from $6,228,112 to $6,241,862, Serfass said.