When Jim Thorpe Area High School students return for in-person classes, they may notice some new faces in the halls.

The district superintendent and other administrative staff have moved into the wing of the school formerly occupied by Lehigh Carbon Community College.

“LCCC was leaving and there was more interest in the first floor at the district office. That put us in the position to move,” said Superintendent John Rushefski.

The relocated offices have been open inside the high school for about a month. But the high school has been on a full-remote learning model during that time due to concerns about COVID-19.

High school students were scheduled to return to a hybrid of in-person and remote learning on Monday. The winter storm has postponed their return by three days.

Rushefski said he has seen benefits to having the administrators be close to the students. He worked in districts where that was the case before coming to Jim Thorpe.

“There are opportunities for me to meet students, meet with teachers, just to be part of the ebb and flow the school, as opposed to being part of a district office,” he said.

His new office is in a converted classroom overlooking the school library. He said he plans to use the office to meet with board members and teachers.

Five other employees have relocated, including the coordinator of academic resources and federal programs. The special education office could follow later this year.

The opportunity for the move came about after LCCC officially moved out in December. Even before that, classes had moved online and to other locations.

At the same time, the district has been renting space inside the district offices, located on the other side of town at 410 Center Ave., to the Carbon County Commissioners. The voter registration and Sheriff’s offices have been using space inside that building while the county renovates office space.

The district recently had the building appraised. Some board members are in favor of putting it up for sale, but no official action has been taken.

For now, the district’s business office is still located inside the old building.

“Now that we have a full-time business manager, I feel like we’re in good hands at the district office,” he said.

It’s also the location of the school board meeting room, but their meetings have been taking place online since last March. Rushefski said when board meetings resume in person, he’d be open to moving some of them to the high school library.

Barring another weather delay, students were set to return to in-person classes on Thursday for the first time since December. Rushefski said they should feel welcome to approach him if they see him in the halls.

“I’m just another administrator for them to say hello to,” Rushefski said.