Lehighton Area School Board accepted the resignation of fellow board director Thomas Zimmerman IV Monday evening.

Zimmerman said Tuesday morning, “I resigned from the Lehighton School Board for personal reasons as well as I could not commit to the time it would take to plan on what they are trying to do with these construction projects.”

He said he is involved with many civic organizations throughout the county.

“I would hope they would consider appointing Lori Nothstein or Betty Wolfe to my position as they are both wonderful individuals and dedicated to their community.”

Solicitor William Schwab advised the school board that it has 30 days to fill the vacancy.

On a motion by school board director Rocky Ahner, the board voted to contact Nothstein to determine if she would be interested in being appointed to the school board for the remainder of Zimmerman’s term.  

Nothstein ran for the school board in 2013, but was defeated in the November general election by 146 votes.

She has until 4 p.m. Monday, March 31, to notify the school board of her decision. If she is not interested in the appointment, the position will be advertised.

Due to the number of snow days this year, the school board approved the revision of the 2013-2014 school calendar in order to meet the requirement for minimum instructional hours.

Thursday, April 17, will now be a makeup day, with early dismissal scheduled.

Commencement for the Class of 2014 will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, June 13.

The last day of school for both students and teachers is Monday, June 16.

In other business, the school board approved the recommendation to hire Karen Shaffer as the principal’s secretary at Shull-David Elementary School.

“I want to thank the school board for your confidence in me,” Shaffer said.

In addition, the school board approved Amanda Rex as Lehighton Area Middle School computer department chair for the remainder of the school year; Trevor Miller as middle school FBLA adviser; and Sarah Brandt as mentor for teacher Vicky Myers.

The resignation of Jackie Bennett as Shull-David Elementary School lunch aide was accepted.

The school board re-elected director Wayne Wentz as Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21 representative for the July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2017, term.