A week before the start of the 2017-18 school year in Lehighton Area School District, the school board continued to round out its staff Monday with the addition of two teachers.

By a unanimous vote, the district hired Victoria DePaulo, high school English teacher, at a salary of $43,000; and Kristen Zellner, an elementary teacher, at a salary of $44,850.DePaulo replaces Amber Konek, who resigned on Aug. 15 to take a teaching position closer to her residence."Amber did a lot for us in the English department, but we know that Victoria will fit right in and keep everything moving," Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said.Zellner comes to the district after a year as an elementary teacher in Tamaqua Area School District.Monday's hires have the district closer to a full staff for opening day on Sept. 5."We're still looking for a long-term substitute in English at the high school and a part-time paraprofessional," Cleaver said.In other businessThe board also:• Approved payments of $2,538,382.49 from construction accounts for the multipurpose stadium, middle school, high school and elementary center.• Approved Melissa Volcskai, Chris Knappenberger, Kevin Bond and Tiffany Strausberger to attend the Carnegie STEM Excellence Pathway at the Da Vinci Science Center on Oct. 2, Feb. 6, and May 22, at a cost not to exceed $4,500. Funding will come through the Title IV grant.• Approved a confidential settlement agreement and release for student 54284.• Approved the hiring of Patrice Bjorkman, lunchtime aide at $8.50 per hour; Michelle Stoffey, lunchtime aide at $8.50 per hour; Lisa Palmer, lunchtime aide at $8.50 per hour; Christina Bravo, full-time paraprofessional, $15,597; Chelsea German, part-time paraprofessional at $11 per hour and Kristina Scott, part-time professional at $11 per hour.• Acknowledged Michele Rickert, Kutztown University student, K-12 professional school counselor intern assigned to the high school; and Christina Timlin, Clarks Summit University student, assigned to the middle school.• Approved the ELearn21 Lehighton Area Virtual Academy parent/student handbook for the 2017-18 school year.• Approved a memorandum of understanding with Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21 for the Title III Consortium for the 2017-18 school year.• Accepted the consolidated grant agreement for the 2017-18 school year including Title I, Part A - $510,598.00; Title I, Part D - $49,500.00; Title II, Part A - $88,118.00; and Title IV, Part A - $11,451.00.• Approved the externship agreement between the district and the McCann School of Business and Technology for the purpose of providing experiential learning for educational students for the 2017-18 school year.• Approve the Lehighton Area High School to offer a winter credit recovery program for students at a cost not to exceed $150 per class using the APEX learning system for 15 two-hour sessions after the first semester. The number of instructors will be determined by the number of participants. There will be no cost to the district.• Approved SAT Prep classes for English and math at the high school. There will be no cost to Lehighton students.• Approved the Keystone Exam and state assessment after school tutoring program for district students to be held at the high school two days per week for the 2017-18 school year.