Since March 2021, the Northampton School Board has been deliberating on what to do with Moore Elementary School following a 2019 study performed by FutureThink, which provided an independent analysis of the school district detailing possible considerations for capital improvements based on demographics, enrollment figures and projections.

Based on this study, the majority of the board voted to close Moore Elementary, Franklin Elementary, the Washington technology building and the administration building in September 2022.

However, the board later voted in October 2024 to keep Moore Elementary open. Since then, they have been discussing potential renovation options for the dilapidated building.

During the Monday, Jan. 13 meeting, directors voted on moving forward with renovations based on several options compiled by Chris Haller from CHA Consulting Inc.

Options and estimated costs for the proposed Moore Elementary rebuild and renovations included the following:

  • Option 1: Minimal scope – $24,468,550
  • Option 2: Minimal scope – $20,684,800
  • Option 3: Minimal scope with unit ventilators and built-up roof – $15,469,090
  • Option 4: Minimal scope with 4-pipe VAV system, EPDM roof, sewer plant, domestic water and playground equipment – $21,701,950
  • Option 5: Minimal scope with 4-pipe VAV system and built-up roof – $28,992,310
  • Option 6: A complete building renovation at an estimated cost of $51 million
  • Option 7: Demolition and rebuild of a new Moore Elementary School at an estimated cost of $70 million

During the discussion, Haller proposed beginning the project in the summer of 2026 rather than 2025 due to the tight schedule.

Director Doug Vaughn made a motion to approve Option 6, but no one seconded the motion.

Following, Director Brian McCulloch made a made a motion to approve Option 4, and Director Joshua Harris seconded the motion.

During discussion, President Kristin Soldridge paused the conversation to ask Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik what his professional opinion on the matter was, to which he responded that he, as well as many residents that stop him to discuss the subject, believe that the Moore Elementary School project should be a new build.

Kovalchik also added that he believes a realistic timeframe for the project should include a year of planning and two years of construction to be completed by the 2028-29 school year. This would allow construction to begin at Moore Elementary when East Allen Elementary School officially opens for the 2026-27 school year, so that the Moore Elementary children could attend East Allen Elementary for two years while Moore Elementary construction is underway.

“Taxes are going to go up to a certain degree. I’m not happy about that as a taxpayer, but I don’t think anybody’s really happy about that. The bottom line is that at the end of the day, I think this is what the majority of the people want, so it’s time to do it,” Kovalchik divulged.

Vaughn then shared that when he has talked to taxpayers about the issue, they have stated that they do not want to renovate Moore Elementary with a Band-Aid, to which he told them that “the only way to not have a Band-Aid is to raise taxes and it’s going to be a significant tax increase.”

“And the comment that struck me most of the time was, ‘we don’t care about the tax increase.’ They want to see a new school. They think that’s the right thing, regardless if their taxes have to go up. They understand and they recognize that, from what I’m being told,” said Vaughn.

Director John Becker also offered his opinion, stating: “I think Mr. Kovalchik and I have been around a lot of years, and we’ve seen a lot of money wasted on renovations over the years and always, the best decision should have been to build a new school. I think if we do anything but make that decision tonight, we’re going to make the same mistakes that have been made in the past.”

The motion to approve Option 4 failed 4-5 with directors Kim Bretzik, Harris, McCulloch and Soldridge voting in favor of Option 4.

Vaughn then made a motion to approve Option 7, with Becker seconding the motion.

Harris commented that he’d love to see a new school replace the old Moore Elementary School building and that he will “probably vote for it at this point,” but questioned directors in favor of the rebuild regarding where they plan to get the $70 million to fund the project in addition to all other financing costs.

Harris also opined that he finds the issue a result of the previous board’s failure to plan for maintenance and renovations.

Vaughn then responded by saying that he finds the issue more attributable to the board’s decision last spring to only increase taxes by 1%, which he believes was a mistake.

“We should have voted for a higher tax increase then to help make sure we could cover the costs of the maintenance programs … but this board is focused on cutting taxes or reducing taxes or not raising taxes, instead of doing the right thing,” said Vaughn.

The motion to approve Option 7 also failed in a 4-5 vote, with Becker, Vaughn, Ross Makary and Vice-President Nathan Lichtenwalner voting in favor of Option 7.

Next, Soldridge made another motion to approve Option 6, due to the board being at an impasse.

“The board is very passionate about Moore Township Elementary School, as everybody has seen in the audience and has heard of. And I feel that if we can make a decision tonight on one of the options, if something comes up that we need to revamp it or something else comes up that there’s an emergency, we have the flexibility of what we need to do in order to address that,” said Soldridge.

When asked about the timeframe of the project, Haller explained that for a full renovation, it would take a year to design and bid the project, with bidding beginning in November or December and contracts being awarded in January or February to give contractors time to procure materials, which would allow them to begin in summer 2026.

Soldridge then amended her motion to state that Option 6 would include the Moore Elementary project completion date of summer 2028.

The motion to approve Option 6 passed in a 7-2 vote with Bretzik and Harris voting against the motion.

The next Northampton School Board meeting will be held on Monday, Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium, located at 1619 Laubach Ave.

An update on the Northampton Area School District 2025-26 preliminary budget will be published in next week’s issue of The Home News.