Jim Thorpe Area School District's board of education has taken the next step in securing the bonds to finance energy efficiency projects throughout the district.

Jens Damgaard, a municipal finance attorney with Rhoads & Sinon, made a presentation to the board in regard to approving a resolution, which essentially lays out the procedural elements for the bonds.The resolution covers the issuance of the bonds, authorizes the board members to sign necessary paperwork, addresses filing and obtaining approval from the state, and advertisement of the resolution."This whole process is a validation process for approving any type of debt that is payable from tax revenues," Damgaard said.The revenue from the bonds will be used to pay the balance of the debt due to Honeywell International Inc.Honeywell handled projects for the district's school buildings, such as upgrading lighting and air conditioning, replacing boilers, boiler control panels, walk-in refrigeration controls, and domestic hot water replacement.A Honeywell representative previously told the board that the savings accrued from the upgrades would more than pay for the costs of the project.The resolution lists the maximum bond issuance at $3,345,000, though Damgaard said that particular figure is larger than the actual bond issue, which will be finalized at a later date. The total project cost from Honeywell amounts to about $2,764,000.Questions regarding the interest rates were not immediately addressed, though Damgaard did explain that the interest rates would be locked in when the bonds were marketed within the next few weeks.Both Damgaard and Lauren Kovac, business manager, said that the resolution was more oriented toward "kicking off the process" so that the paperwork could be filed with the state, which would allow the matter to be finalized before the end of the year."We're trying to get this bond closed in 2016, because we get $10 million per year of tax-free bond refinances," Kovac said. "If we go into next year, and we have an opportunity to refinance a bond next year, we might not be able to get all of it tax-free. The rush is to try to get this in for this calendar year so that we'll fall under the threshold."Other business• Jennifer Holden was approved by the board as an elementary/middle school mathematics and social studies teacher, at BS Step 1, with a salary of $44,100.• The board approved the retirement of elementary teacher Susan Coughlin, effective Jan. 3, 2017. A motion was approved to post the open position as well.• The board accepted the retirement of administrative assistant Lynn McGavin, effective Jan. 20, 2017. A motion was approved to post the open position as well.• The board accepted the resignation of paraprofessional Kelly Voto, effective July 21, 2016. The board also accepted the resignation of paraprofessional Cathryn Seachrist, effective Nov. 2. A motion was approved to post one open paraprofessional position as well.• High school math teacher Nora Oswald was approved to move to Salary Step 17, with no noted change in compensation.• Dr. Michael Principe volunteered to serve as the board's Pennsylvania School Board Association Liaison.• John Ciavarella was selected as chair for the Nominating Committee for President and Vice President, with Dr. Clement McGinley and Dennis McGinley filling the other committee positions.• Bloomsburg University's Sarah Marouchoc was approved as a student teacher for the elementary school in the spring 2017 semester.