ALLENTOWN, Pa. - LehighValleyNews.com and PBS39 will host a community conversation on the future of the Allentown School District tonight, bringing together stakeholders and members of the public to address issues facing educators, students and public education.
The event will be held at 7 p.m. in the Rodale Community Room at Miller Symphony Hall. It will include Allentown Mayor Matthew Tuerk and school district Acting Superintendent Carol Birks. Co-moderators will be Jen Rehill, LehighValleyNews.com news director, and education reporter Sarah Mueller. Attendees will be able to ask questions during the event.
This public event will discuss the Allentown School District’s challenges and next steps as it welcomes Birks, its sixth leader in 12 years. The school board named her to the post after the controversial departure of former Superintendent John Stanford.
Birks recently said her top goal as Allentown’s superintendent is to create conditions in which students and the adults who work with them are safe, and to make students feel cared about, valued and empowered.
Dieruff and William Allen high schools and Trexler Middle School were locked down Monday after multiple threats of mass violence were made to the Allentown School District, officials said.
Students at Dieruff were also dismissed at 11 a.m. Thursday after the school was locked down at 10 a.m.
The Allentown Police Department said threats of a potential shooting at the school were not credible.
In September, a 16-year-old was charged with first-degree homicide in the shooting death of a William Allen High School student in the city's Stevens Park. The victim, Treshawn Tracy, was a member of Allen's junior varsity football team.
It came weeks after a 14-year-old student was arrested with a loaded semi-automatic handgun inside the school. The school district did not disclose that an armed student was taken into custody during a lockdown, only acknowledging it after Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin released information to the public a week later.
The board did not categorize these incidents or others as reasons for a loss of confidence in Stanford and negotiated a separation agreement that gave him nine months' salary and a letter of recommendation.
In accordance with the agreement, the school district and Stanford said his departure was mutual.
Members of the public are welcome to attend Tuesday's community conversation, no registration required. Doors will open at 6pm and close promptly at 6:45 p.m. at Symphony Hall’s Rodale Community Room in Allentown, with the broadcast starting promptly at 7pm. Seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
LehighValley+members will be able to live stream the event exclusively on LehighValleyNews.com, and the public can watch the full broadcast Friday at 7 p.m. on PBS39.
