If the temperatures tap the 90s when school starts next year, the students in three of Palmerton’s schools won’t mind a bit.

The Palmerton Area School District approved plans on Tuesday to install air conditioning units in three of the buildings.The lucky facilities include the high school, S.S. Palmer and Towamensing elementary schools.Engineering company Barry Isett and Associates in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, received the contract to upgrade the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. The mechanical and electrical engineering will cost $85,500 and the construction documents and specifications will be $142,500.Board member Barry Scherer asked if the proposed plan included the junior high school.Tim Sisock, a project manager at Barry Isett and Associates, said, “No, the junior high is separate because of the addition. It will be added at that time.”Since plans for the addition are underway, it made more sense to incorporate the air conditioning after the addition is built.Palmerton resident George Ashman asked if asbestos would be found in the ceiling and ductwork if those costs and difficulty of removal were considered.Sisock told him that the amount of asbestos is “nothing serious. It’s nothing that has to be separated.”There is a small amount around elbows in the ductwork, but a worker certified in handling the material will take care of it.According to Sisock, work on the project will not take place until after school ends next year.“We’ll be bidding it through the winter in hopes to have it on the site for summer,” Sisock said.When work begins, the ceilings will have to be removed, the old ductwork removed, new ductwork installed and the ceilings put back in place. Some areas of the ceiling may need to be completely replaced, Sisock said.As far as the addition to the junior high school, Sisock said he didn’t have the numbers with him at the meeting, but he thinks it is about 6,000 square feet. The addition will house the cafeteria and administration in the front entrance. Work on that project could possibly begin this time next year, he said.Also at the Palmerton school board meeting, Superintendent Scott Engler said the school district donated to the public library.“It’s great to help them. They certainly are helping us,” Engler said.Students from the high school staff the Homework Helper program at the library and 84 students participated in summer programs this year at the library.The board also welcomed back alumna Lyndsey Heinrich. Her position as a new art teacher at the high school was approved with an income of $43,982.Heinrich graduated from Millersville University in May with a bachelor’s degree. She said she is excited to be back at her old high school.