Saucon Valley SD approves new middle school principal; board signs off on personnel and finance items

The Saucon Valley School District Board approved David Hauser as the district's middle school principal and voted to adopt a slate of personnel and finance items during its public meeting.

Superintendent Miss Vlacity told the board that staff training and back-to-school events are underway. She said food-service staff recently received chef training funded by a grant, and the district will hold convocation with a Rachel's Challenge keynote at 9 a.m. on Aug. 19 in the high school auditorium followed by a district lunch. New-student and freshman visitation at the high school is scheduled Aug. 20, with sessions beginning at 12:30 p.m. and again at 6 p.m.

The superintendent also reported kindergarten enrollment at 151 students, which she said is “the highest we've seen in quite a few years.” She said kindergarten class sizes are expected to range between 19 and 22 students; first-grade classes are expected to be 15 to 17 students. Vlacity cautioned that enrollment could still change in the coming weeks.

Board President Cedric Detmar called for a vote to approve Hauser. David Hauser, who addressed the board after the vote, said, "I really appreciate this opportunity. I'm looking forward to joining the Saucon Valley School District and getting to work right away. Mike has been doing a wonderful job getting me acclimated and kind of coaching me up a bit on everything that I need to know." Hauser told the board he hopes to be on campus sooner rather than later but acknowledged he may not join full-time for up to 60 days while he transitions from Northern Lehigh.

The board also approved a stipend for the interim principal who will assume responsibilities until Hauser begins. Miss Vlacity read a list of 24 additional personnel actions — including department heads, advisors, technology support specialists, coaches and other hires or status changes — and the board approved items 2 through 24 en bloc after brief discussion.

In athletics and activities staffing, Vlacity confirmed that Ryan Johnson has been approved as the district's director of athletics and activities; she said Johnson will oversee athletics plus music and theater and will work with school-affiliated organizations such as booster clubs and PTOs. Vlacity said longtime athletics overseer Mr. Frey has moved into a new role as coordinator of support services while retaining duties as safety coordinator and continuing oversight of emergency preparedness, security systems and fundraising approvals for school-affiliated organizations.

Vlacity gave a facilities update: the athletic training room is “set to be completed on the fifteenth” (month not specified in the meeting record), the high-school weight room is expected to be finished before Thanksgiving, and ceiling and parking-lot work is in progress. A new theater curtain has been ordered; a high-school gym divider curtain is now expected in October or November. Doctor Kaske, quoted by Vlacity, told the board the curtain delay “does not affect any of the physical education courses scheduled for the year.”

Vlacity also said librarians will take on expanded technology-support roles in buildings, and two co-curricular advisor positions remain open: math club advisor and FBLA adviser. She said the district will publish an annual report, create a branding pack, and the communications specialist will brief the board at the next meeting on website and outreach plans.

Votes at a glance - Approve agenda: motion approved (vote recorded by voice; roll-call not specified). - Approve minutes from 07/22/2025: motion approved (voice vote). - Approve middle school principal (Item 1, David Hauser): motion approved (voice vote). Hauser addressed the board after approval. - Approve personnel items 2–24 (en bloc): motion approved (voice vote). - Approve presentation of bills: motion approved (voice vote). - Approve surplus/obsolete items (facilities Item 1): motion approved (voice vote). - Approve finance items 1–3 (Lehigh Valley events homecoming DJ, EmpowerED agreement, Colonial IU 20 contract): motion approved (voice vote).

The board did not provide detailed roll-call tallies in the meeting record for these votes; minutes show voice approvals after motions and seconds.