Tamaqua Area School Board last week approved the following:

• Homestead/Farmstead inclusion at $142, a reduction of assessed value of $4,257 for eligible properties per information provided by the county assessment office.• The repository sale of a parcel located at 421 W. Broad St., Tamaqua, in the amount of $2,161, offered by Danielle C. McCulley and Gabriel V. Kries of Bernville.• Granted the Tamaqua Area Booster Board to apply for the 2016-17 Small Games of Chance license.• Set the "Pay to Participate" fee at $30 for the first sport, $20 for the second sport, and $10 for the third sport.• Hired Emilie Baker as an elementary teacher at a salary of $41,161; Gina Manbeck as an elementary teacher at a salary of $51,856; Jacqueline Murphy as a special-education teacher at a salary of $43,975; Susan Dolan as a substitute paraprofessional; the resignation of Olga A. Williams as a part-time paraprofessional and cafeteria monitor.• Jim McCabe, high school teacher, as a mentor for Jennifer Curcio, high school teacher, at a stipend of $600.• Pamela Zelinsky, speech therapist, as a mentor for Katelyn Collevechio, speech therapist, at a stipend of $600.• Cathy Miorelli, school nurse, as a mentor for Alison Marmas, school nurse, at a stipend of $600.• Field trips: AP biology class to Chincoteaque Bay Field Station, Virginia; honors biology class to the Bronx Zoo, New York; and anatomy and physiology class to Body Worlds exhibit, New York City.• M&T Bank as the district's depository for the 2016-17 fiscal year.• A one-year contract with Leader Services, Hazleton, from July 1 to June 30, 2017, to process transactions billed through the Access Program.• Balfour Yearbooks as publisher for the 2016-17 school year, at the rate of $16,688, per the proposal submitted.• Granted permission for next year's prom to be held at Capriotti's on May 6, 2017.