Northern Lehigh School District will not seek exceptions to raise school district taxes above the index for the 2016-17 school year.

That's after the school board, on a 6-2 vote on Monday, rejected a motion to raise taxes above the index as calculated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Director Robert Keegan Jr. and board President Edward Hartman voted in favor of the measure. Director Natalie Green was absent.Had the board voted to do so, it would have required a preliminary budget for the 2016-17 school year to have been approved before Jan. 7, 2016.Director Gregory Williams said he was 100 percent opposed to raising taxes over the index.Director Donna Kulp echoed Williams' sentiment.Superintendent Michael Michaels said that the only area for which the district would have applied for an exception would have been special education.Afterward, Michaels remarked that the district is very concerned with the lack of a state budget.Michaels said that the district is doing everything it can to not expend a lot of money in the event that a state budget isn't passed until several months from now."We'll do what we can to make it work," Michaels said. "But, it isn't fair to the students."Professional development workshopAlso on Monday, assistant Superintendent Karen Nicholas discussed education connections with local preschools and child care centers.Nicholas said that a professional development workshop, Phonological Awareness for Preschoolers, will be conducted from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. tonight at Peters Elementary School.She said the instructor will be Deidra Vachier, Community Services for Children Inc.The purpose of the workshop, Nicholas said, is to continue the collaborative relationship between the district's administration and teachers, with the local early childhood education directors and teachers to come together to learn about and discuss the literacy foundational skills for the children of the community.Other businessThe board approved:• Increasing the district's substitute teacher rate to $100 for the first 10 days, and to $120 for any days beyond that.• Ryan Stillwell as Slatington Elementary School special education teacher, replacing an employee on family medical leave, at a salary of $46,200, prorated from Oct. 2, to the return of the full-time teacher.• Connie Graaf as cook's helper at Peters Elementary School, replacing Judy VanHorn, who was transferred to Slatington Elementary, at a salary of $9 per hour.• Janice Herzog as an emotional support aide at Peters Elementary School, replacing an emotional support aide who was transferred to PCA for a student, at a salary of $11.40 an hour.• Jennifer Kuhns as a lunch room monitor at Slatington Elementary School, at a salary of $10.40 an hour, for two hours per day, on an as-needed basis.• Bronwyn Cseh, health and physical education; Mary Frank, Art K-12 and ESL; Cynthia Fritzinger, elementary; Samantha Lilly, elementary and special education; Stephen Reimert, social studies; Linda Sarver, Art K-12; and Patricia Sottolano, CLIU guest teacher.• Shelly Pender as substitute secretary/aide for the 2015-16 school year.• Lori-Beth Guelcher, JoAnne Sipos, Debbie Siglin, Anna Mary Milot, and Janet McKelvey as volunteers.• Portnoff Law Associates Ltd. will be the delinquent real estate tax collector for the 2015 school year.