Taxpayers in the Northern Lehigh School District will see a 2% increase in their property tax rates.

By a 5-4 margin, the school board on Monday approved the general fund balance of $43,096,535 for 2026-27.

Directors Gary Fedorcha, Donna Kulp, Gale Husack, Joyce Thompson and board President Mathias Green were in favor. Directors Timothy Weaber, Crystal Bilby, Natalie Snyder, Angela Williams were opposed.

After a suggested 4.32% tax increase received no support, Weaber made a motion for a 2% increase, with the difference to come from the fund balance.

Fedorcha, Husack, Kulp, Snyder, Thompson, Weaber and Williams were in favor, with Bilby and Green opposed.

It calls for a millage rate of 26.1162 mills in Lehigh County (per $100 assessed valuation), and 83.8475 mills in Northampton County (per $100 assessed valuation).

Music program intact

The budget keeps the Northern Lehigh High School Marching Band intact, a point that Green stressed following public comment on the budget.

Before the vote, resident Pete Vas Dias, a composer, said, “The true magic of a song lies in the intentional space.

“In other words, music is the space between the notes, and I’m seeing it with these kids,” Vas Dias said. “To deprive them of music education is criminal, it’s insane, it’s downright stupid. To even consider such a travesty goes against everything education stands for.

“These kids are motivated, they’re dedicated, they bust their behinds. I’m seeing it with my sons, I’ve seen these kids out here out there in their uniforms sweating, practicing. They keep their academics up, and they love it. Music is a lifelong pursuit.”

Vas Dias said his late father was an educator in the Southern Lehigh School District who taught him to believe in the students, and to believe in his sons.

“Please do the right thing and leave the music department alone so these kids can foster,” Vas Dias said. “Who knows, there might be another Jimmy Hendrix, or a Mozart or somebody else, and event if not, they enjoy this, they dedicate themselves.”

Vas Dias said he was making a donation to the Northern Lehigh Music Department for however they can use it.

“Yeah I can’t afford it, but these kids are our future, and we should be behind them instead of entertaining an idea as dumb as getting rid of a music department,” Vas Dias said. “Please do the right thing, and leave the music department alone.”

Noah Stettler thanked the board for adding the band back into the budget.

“Band is greatly appreciated at our school and our community, and band is also here to support us,” he said. “It’s greatly appreciated; thank you guys for adding it back.”

Matthew Korup also expressed his gratitude. “On behalf of the parents and the community, thank you very much for keeping the band program, because these kids work their butts off every day of the week and twice on Sundays,” Korup said.

During the workshop last week, students and parents spoke for more than an hour about how being in band helped them.

Staffing concerns

Former middle school Principal Dave Hauser told the board, “I’m tired of hearing the phrase ‘tough decisions,’ particularly when they’re used to describe budget choices that face the district. Don’t call them tough decisions, call them what they really are; just call them cuts to student programs, and cuts that impact the teachers and paraprofessionals who work directly with students every day.”

Hauser said. “When we call these tough decisions, it can make them sound like they’re unavoidable, and they are not. They are choices. And before we make choices that reduce programs, services and support for students we owe it to this community and to our students to ask tougher questions.”

Hauser then discussed class sizes.

“Staffing decisions must be more than class sizes; what is the impact on scheduling, on the course offerings, vertical alignment of schedules, student supports, interventions and the overall educational experience in each building,” he said. “You transfer a teacher, it doesn’t just impact class size, it impacts what that principal can do in their buildings, there’s a program impact

“We also need to stop treating vacancies as automatic opportunities to save money. When a position becomes vacant, the first question should not be how much can we save, the first question should be how do we preserve the position and the services it provides the students.”

Hauser then asked the board to do its research on the historical perspective of staffing and the impact it has had on programs.

“These moves are making it harder for principals and teachers to deliver the essential services that we the taxpayers and parents are paying more than $40 million dollars to receive,” he said. “Our teachers make incredible things happen, but every staffing decision has consequences beyond the four (rules) of the classroom.

“This is why the district should hire a business teacher, not simply transfer one from another building, and is why even the mention of cutting a band director and music position should be completely unacceptable; that should not even be floated in this district. We should be strengthening programs, not spreading staff even thinner.

“Our students deserve the same rich educational experiences and diverse programming that families expect in any school district. Yes, we must live within our means, but we also need to make decisions that are student-centered.

Budget breakdown

Before the vote, Superintendent Dr. Matthew J. Link broke down the final budget for the 2026-27 school year.

“This includes the elimination of a middle school math position through a resignation which would then be covered through an internal transfer; elimination of an emergency certificated Spanish ESL staff position, which we would not renew for the application to the state for another year of an emergency certification; the permanent substitute position all through attrition, and retains the secondary music position band director,” Link said. “Also there’s an addition of a high school business position through an internal staff transfer.”

District Business Manager Sherri Molitoris noted that after the finance committee meeting last week they revised based on what the board wanted.

Other department budgets and building budgets were cut by 2%.

Salary and benefit reductions include: administrative salaries ($20,276); workers’ compensation ($36,507); permanent substitute insurance ($26,452); professional staff ($17,861); paraprofessionals ($1,683); department chairs ($36,834); paraprofessionals attrition ($113,375); permanent substitute attrition ($39,327); business position — fill through staffing changes ($140,649); and elimination of emergency certified position ($140,620), for a total of $537,862.

Molitoris said that since the finance committee meeting, Mary Ann Mattiola, Slatington Elementary English language development teacher, announced her retirement. She earned $152,547 and her replacement will earn $140,649.

A middle school math teacher resigned at a salary of $109,435. The district plans to cover that in-house.

She said revenue loss based on salary and benefit reductions include FICA subsidy reduction ($15,500); retirement subsidy reduction ($85,704); and premium share reduction ($5,928), for a total of $107,132.

Molitoris said they increased some of their revenues: Basic education subsidy ($50,000); special education subsidy ($25,000); received a donation from the Northern Lehigh Educational Foundation for STEAM Camp busing for the summer ($4,188); increased interim real estate tax ($3,500); increased real estate transfer tax ($50,000); and increased delinquent per capita ($2,000), for a total of $134,688.

She said the deficit in April was $3,275,211. The fund balance is being used for onetime purchases along with other items to balance the budget like the increase in PSERS, increase in medical debt service payments.

Planned replacement of furniture at Slatington Elementary School and Northern Lehigh High School was taken off the list, bringing the deficit to $3,175,211.

Link said administrative recommendations were using the fund balance for onetime math curriculum, debt service payment and health care increases.