Palmerton Area School District will make a final decision Aug. 20 on when its first day of school will be next month.

As it stands, students are scheduled to return on Sept. 3, already a week later than normal, in order to give construction crews time to finish renovations at S.S. Palmer Elementary.

While that still remains the goal, administrators said Tuesday night, an alternate plan has been drafted that, if needed, would have students come back to the classroom on Sept. 9.

“Things are moving along nicely at Palmer, but sometimes construction hits a snag so we wanted to present an alternative district calendar in case we would run into that situation,” Ryan Kish, interim Palmerton superintendent told the school board during a workshop.

Though the proposed alternate schedule has students starting Sept. 9, the final day of school and graduation night, June 10, would remain the same. Students would lose two scheduled off days on Nov. 15 and March 14, as those Act 80 days for staff would be moved to Sept. 5 and 6. The alternate schedule includes two additional Act 80 days on Sept. 3 and 4.

“When creating an alternative schedule, we tried to look at what is best for our students and what is most feasible for our staff,” Jamie Schuler, assistant to the superintendent, said. “There is not going to be a perfect plan that will make everyone happy, but we really tried to stay away from starting the year virtually. By front loading our professional development days, we were able to do that.”

Kish said he and other administrators will tour Palmer on Aug. 20 and be able to make a recommendation to the board, which meets that night, on whether to stick with the current schedule or pivot to the alternative one.

Asked by director Stacy Connell what he would pick if he were a betting man, Kish said he thinks the time frame will continue to move in a positive direction and the alternate schedule “will be unnecessary.”

Palmerton approved $1.4 million in contracts in March for a project that is transforming the appearance of the building’s front entrance and enhancing security.

One month later directors awarded the electrical construction bid for the renovation project to West Side Hammer Electric of Bethlehem at a cost of $168,750, and awarded the bid for a roof replacement project to Centre Roofing & Coatings LLC of Belleville at a cost of $434,000.

Changes include relocating the school’s office suite from the second level to the ground floor. The large existing staircase that greeted visitors upon entry has been removed. Renovation plans feature a secure vestibule at the entrance and an ADA accessible ramp added to the front entrance.

S.S. Palmer students spent the last few days of the 2023-24 school year in a virtual setting to give contractors a head start on the work.

“I’m glad there was outside the box thinking instead of just saying yeah let’s go virtual,” Board President Sherry Haas said. “I think starting the year virtually would be very difficult, especially for our younger students.”