Kyle Spotts will be taking on an additional role in Lehighton Area School District next school year.

The current director of activities and athletics will add supervisor of plant of operations to his resume after Lehighton’s school board tabbed him via an 8-1 vote to replace Joe Hauser, who is retiring after 26 years of service.

Director David Bradley cast the lone no vote after questioning Lehighton’s administration on Spotts’ experience for the position.

“What formal experience does he have besides hanging around with Joe?” Bradley asked before the vote.

Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver backed Spotts, telling the board he has “been involved in planning and preparation for the district’s new elementary center and recent building renovation projects.”

“I would consider that experience,” Cleaver added.

When asked if Spotts would actually be fixing things, Cleaver said the position is that of a supervisor.

“For example, if we get a clog in a drain and one of our maintenance people couldn’t get it free, we would get someone to come in for that contracted service,” Cleaver said.

“The same goes for electrical or whatever it may be.”

Lehighton set Spotts’ new salary at $74,839 for the 2018-19 school year, which is around $15,000 more than what he was getting solely as director of activities and athletics.

The district also hired Ronald Kazakavage and Peter Salerno, part-time school police officers, both at $30 per hour.

According to Cleaver, both officers have to be approved by Carbon County Court before they can begin working.

In March, Lehighton approved the two new positions and said the officers would “provide a consistent presence” in district schools and at extracurricular activities.

The officers will each work up to 120 hours per month (30 per week) for 10 months.

The district received a grant when it was considering a school resource officer of $60,000 for the first year and $30,000 for the second year.

“By going with school police officers, the grant would only drop to $40,000 for the first year and $20,000 for the second year,” Cleaver said. “The state has made it clear that they intend on making more money available for school safety, and we fully intend on continuing to apply for those opportunities.”

The officers will have full arresting powers and work under the supervision of the superintendent.

“The plan is for the officers to rotate buildings throughout the district,” Cleaver said. “We want them to have a very visible presence. The flexibility would also allow us to have the officers at extracurricular activities. At a Friday night football game for example, where we would normally use four borough officers for security, we could cut that down to two and also use our own officers.”

Adding the officers to the district payroll will increase Lehighton’s insurance package by $2,500 per year for the extra liability.

Lehighton solicitor William Schwab said the district has to petition the court because the officers would be covering multiple jurisdictions.

Other personnel moves

• Lehighton’s board accepted the resignation of Jennifer Evans after one year as principal at Lehighton Area Middle School. Evans was previously assistant principal at the high school. The effective date of her resignation is to be determined.

Other resignations on Monday included Kristina Scott, part-time paraprofessional; Trevor Miller, head golf coach; Jennifer Potts, assistant cross-country coach; Matt Kosciolek, assistant football coach; and Cristi Marchetti, high school English language arts teacher.

Other hires included Mark McIntyre, director of special services, $92,000; Ryan Wentz, secondary math teacher, $43,000; Judy Paterson, part-time paraprofessional, $11 per hour; and Richard Everett, Todd Christman and Ricky Kistler, part-time cleaners and summer cleaners, $8.66 per hour.

Brenda Eckley, paraprofessional; Ann Kulp, cafeteria worker; and Jane Yenser, secretary; will be retiring in August.