May 3, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
The Bethlehem Area School District board will meet Monday for some regular business, but also to ratify votes made last week.
The meeting agenda was not available online at least part of the 24 hours in advance of last week’s meeting. Board Docs, which many local governments use to present agendas and other information, was down across the U.S.
I was curious last week if the meeting could even be held, but it was. Now, the BASD Board of Directors appears to be making sure last week’s votes hold up.
Here’s the agenda item: “That the Board of School Directors ratify all prior votes on agenda items taken at the April 27, 2026, Regular School Board Meeting.”
That meeting will start at 6 p.m. and be followed by the Curriculum Committee meeting. Among items for that are the $68 per hour the district agrees to pay BAYADA Home Health Care for the services of Registered Nurses (RNs) and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs).
The board’s Facilities Committee will also meet and hear an update on Fountain Hill Elementary School construction. The school on Church Street is expected to be ready for the 2027-28 school year.
The district also seeks to keep paying Republic Services for trash and recycling pickup. Based on the contract approved in 2023, the district will pay Republic no more than $159,128.68 for the 2026-27 school year.
The Board of Directors of the Bethlehem Area School District will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, May 4, at the Education Center, 1516 Sycamore St.
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 
$160,000 to take trash away once a week for 9 months is absurd. That’s 36 times.
That is $4,444 for each trash pickup even if it’s twice a week. That is still, $2,222 for each trash pickup each school is paying $1,480 per pickup
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Here’s the item from the agenda:
In April 2023, the Board approved a proposal from Republic Services to provide trash and recycling services for three years through the 2025-26 school year. A provision in the specification allows an option to extend the proposal to a fourth and fifth year at the existing third year prices. The third year unit prices for each of the trash, recycling, and roll off container sizes have been applied to the existing container sizes and pickup frequencies, yielding a not to exceed cost for the 2026-27 school year of $159,128.68.
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