In a series of votes on Tuesday night, the Palmerton Area School District Board of Directors approved several items related to construction projects expected to total approximately $14 million, which includes a two-story high school addition and a new 11,000-square-foot district administration office.

The board on Tuesday also struck down two motions related to grade realignment and sixth grade relocation.

The approvals came after district officials discussed scaled-back versions of a long-debated facilities project earlier this month.

Superintendent Angela Friebolin had previously outlined a downward trend in cost estimates — from $60 million to $27 million, then $15 million, and now $14 million.

“I want to commend the board for their financial responsibility in working their way to where we are today with this current model,” Friebolin said during a workshop meeting earlier this month.

The first motion approved on Tuesday authorized KCBA Architects to proceed with the building design and bid package for the two-story high school addition with secure entrance, renovation of existing high school administration area, and new 11,000 square foot district.

“Yes, we did approve KCBA to do this earlier, but that was only for the administration building,” board President Earl Paules explained. “Now we are approving them to do the two-story addition over at the high school. This will be the final approval that we need to do to move forward.”

The motion passed by a vote of 8-1, with director Brandon Mazepa dissenting.

A subsequent motion granted approval for Keystone Consulting Engineers to proceed with planning, bid document preparation and fee scheduling for the same project scope.

“They are our civil engineers,” Paules said.

Mazepa also voted no to that motion, leaving it to pass 8-1.

The planned project includes a new district office space adjacent to the high school gym. The district’s current administrative offices occupy the third floor of the Parkside building. The move, district officials said, would open up 7,700 square feet of classroom space for student use starting in August 2025.

Friebolin said the proposed new office location, now slated for the west side of the high school gym instead of the back of the junior high school, would allow future construction access if a sixth-grade wing were ever added.

A motion was introduced Tuesday to approve moving sixth grade to the junior high school. The move would have required additional construction at an estimated cost of $27 million. The board defeated the motion unanimously.

“I personally put this on there to give everybody a vote and to say yes or no with this vote, so the public and the parents could have peace of mind,” Paules said.

A similar motion to authorize planning for an elementary realignment of grades K-6 also failed, with a vote of no from each member.

The board did approve a temporary lease agreement to relocate the district administration offices to a site at 3295 Forest Inn Road for two years starting May 1, 2025. The lease will cost $3,800 per month. The space is part of a plaza that includes Good Shepherd Physical Therapy and Iron Valley Real Estate.

“It’s an excellent temporary location we could lease for the district administrative staff should the board choose to move in the direction of a new office off the high school gym,” Friebolin previously explained.

“This is going to make our schools right here safer right away,” Paules said during Tuesday’s meeting. “Administration will be out of Parkside and nobody will be coming through here, no visitors, nothing interfering with anything that goes on here.”

District officials said the lease at the Forest Inn Road site could be canceled early if the space is not needed for the full two years.