Lehighton Area School District’s board of directors ratified a number of actions from its June 27 meeting Friday night including adoption of its 2024-25 budget and hiring of a business administrator.

The district was forced to call the meeting after learning the votes at the June 27 meeting were null and void due to not having enough board members physically present.

Lehighton’s policy allows for board members to attend meetings via phone or other electronic methods but a majority must attend in person. Four directors were in the boardroom on June 27, while another four called in from other places.

“A lot of us work in the business world where things have become comfortable doing Zoom meetings all the time,” Board President Jeremy Glaush said. “We missed one line in a policy that was just updated in January. All of us made an attempt to be at the meeting. I was on vacation. Joy (Beers) was on a business venture. Heather (Neff) was stuck at work but was still able to call in. We have hundreds of rules that we need to know and review on a weekly basis. We missed one thing and we’re here on a Friday night to try to rectify it.”

All of the items voted on Friday night passed as they did on June 27 including the $50.59 million budget, which kept taxes level but proposes a nearly $4 million use of fund balance.

The actions also included the hiring of Steven Sofranko as business administrator at a starting salary of $110,000 with a 3% increase in 2025-26 and 2026-27 should he achieve at least a proficient rating during his evaluation period. The agreement also allows for performance bonuses, “not to exceed 1.5% of the business administrator’s base salary in the preceding fiscal year.”

Lehighton also approved an agreement with Garnet Financial LLC for services including business management, mentoring, and professional development.

Under the terms of the agreement, Garnet Financial will be compensated at a rate of $100 per hour for services provided between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. This rate will increase to $125 per hour starting July 1, 2025. Attendance at evening school board meetings will be billed at $130 per hour. Additionally, the agreement stipulates that the school district will reimburse Garnet Financial for various costs such as legal reviews, long-distance phone calls, mileage, and postage.

During Friday night’s meeting, acting superintendent Jack Corby phoned district solicitor Jeff Sultanik of Fox Rothschild with a question regarding voting procedures.

Sultanik does not attend board meetings in person, prompting taxpayer Autumn Abelovsky to suggest the district look elsewhere for legal services.

“I knew (Jeff) was readily available by phone tonight, but it’s not the same as having someone here in person,” she said. “I think it’s important that you reassess your solicitor situation. If the reason they are not here is fiscal constraints, there is no harm in putting out a request for proposals and just seeing who else is out there. It doesn’t cost anything.”