K-12 News

Schools in the Lehigh Valley are about to start. Here's a roundup of the 17 school district's important dates and things to note.

Bethlehem Area School District teachers hit the streets on the city's South Side to help students feel comfortable transitioning to a new school experience.

A federal court judge is allowing the assistant principal who filed the civil rights lawsuit to amend his complaint. It stemmed from an altercation at a high school football game last fall.

Last year, Bethlehem Area and Allentown school districts were waitlisted to get rebate funding through the Clean School Bus program. Another round of applications for this fiscal year is open until later this month.

The Parkland School District now has two final options for how it will address projected overcrowding in its schools. A decision could come within the next two months.

The school was designated with a state Targeted Support and Improvement designation due to lagging performance by its cohort of economically disadvantaged students. Officials laid out plans to improve the issues present.

The new makerspace at Slatington Elementary School will help students learn STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) skills. It will primarily be used by an after school program called Schools & Homes In Education, or SHINE.

House Education Committee Chair Peter Schweyer said Level Up funding should be released immediately.

A bill in the state Legislature proposes to fix the problems that have put a pause on enforcement in places like Allentown and Bethlehem. And the program will expire in October unless new legislation is passed.

Allentown and Bethlehem Area school districts both get Level Up funding, which is on hold until lawmakers approve a fiscal code determining how the funds are spent.

Bethlehem Area School District is facing a challenging budget deficit amid flat state funding and uncertainty at the federal level under the Trump administration.

Students from Arts Academy Elementary Charter School will visit the Allentown Art Museum this week as part of a new program to get students to engage with artwork in person.

Light pollution has made seeing the Milky Way galaxy difficult, unless you're in a state park in north-central Pennsylvania that's a three-and-a-half-hour drive from the Lehigh Valley.

This year's Greater Lehigh Valley Film Festival will feature 27 short films by some of the areas greatest talent, as well as student pieces from The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts.

Not long after being moved from Harrison-Morton, Allentown middle-schoolers situated at St. Francis School will be split and sent off to other buildings due to a mechanical issue.

The Parkland School District's board approved a comprehensive plan Tuesday, laying out the district's priorities for the next three years.

Bethlehem Area School District's board approved $47.6 million in contracts Monday to build the new Fountain Hill Elementary School — coming in nearly $3 million under budget.

In his latest budget proposal, Governor Josh Shapiro wants to allocate nearly $500 million to chronically underfunded school districts — and that includes several districts in the Lehigh Valley. But lawmakers have concerns around the fairness of the funding distribution.

H.B. 827 was proposed by State Rep. Robert Freeman, D-Northampton. The bill aims to establish a tutoring program in which high school students could receive academic credit for being tutors

Northampton Area School Board is discussing how it will balance its budget this year and in coming years. Solutions include tax increases and the postponement of the Moore Elementary project.

The free expo is now in its seventh year and will occur from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 15, at Penn State Lehigh Valley.

Southern Lehigh Superintendent Michael Mahon remains on administrative leave after the school board president publicly criticized his performance.