Tamaqua Area School District’s superintendent acknowledged the many retiring teachers this year, who have a collective experience of 477 years.

Ray Kinder, who will also be retiring this summer, noted that the board approved a large number of retirements in the past two months.

He also credited the incoming superintendent, Dr. Stephen Toth, with working hard to fill those teaching vacancies.

“Part of the reason we asked for the letters early on is so that we can have time to fill all those positions and make sure we have a strong team moving into ’26-27,” he said.

Kinder read a list of 16 names and years of experience ranging from 19 to 39 years. They include: Sue Brickler, 39; John Buglio, 36; Larry Capozzelli, 31; Amy Delpais, 31; Megan Frantz, 28; Mike Hromyak, 32; Carla Keller, 23; Jennifer Kinder, 29; John Matulevich, 19; Alicia Murphy, 31; Marla Parker, 23; Kelly Reaman, 33; Marsha Rodgers, 24; Milini Skuba, 28; Deb Sweeney, 37 and Frank Wenzel, 33.

“That’s a total of 477 years of experience that will be leaving our district,” Kinder said. “I cannot thank those individuals enough for what they’ve contributed to our district, to our students, to our community, in the classrooms, in the hallways, in the after school, the extracurricular activities.

“We know how valuable these people have been, and we’re appreciative for all the years of service and what they’ve done to help our students,” he said on behalf of the board and administration.

Among the retirements approved Tuesday were Wenzel, who is a mathematics teacher, and Capozzelli, who is a physics teacher.

Administration

Other personnel changes included hiring Adam Felt as an assistant high school principal/athletic director, at a salary of $93,369.

The board also hired Theresa Williams, as an assistant principal at Tamaqua Elementary School/Special Education, at a salary of $86,369.

Teachers

The board also hired Dr. Andrew Solonoski of Weatherly as a physics teacher at a salary of $66,672; James Loff of Newton, New Jersey, as an elementary music teacher, at a salary of $50,211; Corrine Morris of Palmerton as special education teacher at a salary to be determined; and Jaclyn Guth of Weatherly, as a mathematics teacher at a salary of $50.221.

The board also accepted the resignation of Alexandra Costa, an elementary teacher, effective April. 17.