Access to Palmerton Area School District board meetings via the Zoom platform is coming to an end.

Palmerton started using Zoom for its board meetings during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and continued its use after returning to in-person meetings.

The Pennsylvania School Boards Association provided districts with a free Zoom subscription when in-person meetings were shut down in 2020, but that complimentary access is coming to an end.

“The May board meeting will be the last time we have the free membership,” Dr. Jodi Frankelli, Palmerton superintendent, told the board during a workshop Tuesday night.

“We have provided the data so the board could make a decision. Attendance peaked one or two times, but for the most part it has been low.”

School board members gave a consensus Tuesday night to discontinue Zoom use after the free subscription expires. Had the board opted to purchase a subscription, Frankelli said, it would have cost about $1,000 per year.

“I looked at the numbers and if we had at least 10 people logging in every meeting, maybe I could justify it,” director Sherry Haas said. “But times with just one person, I can’t see spending $1,000 with those numbers.”