Northern Lehigh School Board will hold a special meeting at noon on Saturday for what has been deemed an emergency executive session.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss personnel matters, according to board President Gary Fedorcha. It is not open to the public, he said.Fedorcha said the board will meet in the session with Tom Templeton, a private consultant, whom the board hired to conduct a search for a new superintendent."Tom Templeton will meet with the board to see what we as a board want to see in a superintendent, formulating those criteria," Fedorcha said. "It will be to get prepared to do our initial search, which will hopefully be done shortly."Templeton was hired by the board in April in light of the retirement of district Superintendent Michael Michaels, effective June 30. Michaels has been district superintendent for nine years.Fedorcha said Templeton "came very highly recommended" due to his background in working with the Pennsylvania School Board Association in the past, and because he has conducted a number of searches and has a "very proven record."He said at that time Templeton would conduct the search immediately by advertising the opening, and then paper-screening the applicants.The applicant must have a letter of superintendency, and must have central office experience.From that point, Fedorcha said Templeton will bring the list of candidates to a committee of the board, at which time a committee would be formed consisting of board, faculty and community members, who will recommend one or two candidates to go through a full board review and be nominated as district superintendent.Fedorcha said the plan is to have Michaels stay on as acting superintendent until the board is able to find his successor.Michaels' new contract was to have run from June 1, 2014, through May 31, 2019.Under the terms of that contract, Michaels was set to make $128,700 in the 2013-2014 school year, and then receive a 2.25 percent increase in the 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years.