K-12 News

The Pennsylvania House passed a bill last week that would overhaul the state’s education funding system, sending millions to Lehigh Valley schools over the next seven years. But it faces an uncertain future in the Senate.

Youth bicyclists and their mentors traveled from across the country to learn and extend their network at the 2024 National Youth Bike Summit at Muhlenberg College this weekend.

Over the past 14 weeks, about a dozen Lehigh Valley teens participated in the pre-apprenticeship program at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 375 in Allentown.

On Sunday morning, the Zion’s Reformed United Church of Christ in Allentown will hold its reopening worship service for the first time since it closed in 2022.

The mural, by artist Mercedes Salazar, is a collaboration with Lehigh Valley Arts & Cultural Alliance, Community Action of Development of Allentown, The Chamber Foundation and Allentown Mural Arts.

The grant program would allow schools to recruit students, paraprofessionals and other community members to pursue a career in education. It passed the House with bipartisan support last year but has been stuck in committee in the Senate since then.

Opposing forces came to a head during a discussion about public use of Easton Area School District's Cottingham Stadium, with talks of potential costs, liability, and a connection to the public dominating the conversation.

The East Penn School Board approved the district's 2024-25 budget with a property tax increase of 4.12% It maintains existing programs and staff positions sought by school administrators.

A Democratic-sponsored proposal to boost public school funding by billions and impose stricter rules on cyber-charter schools is on its way to the Pennsylvania Senate after passage in the state House.

Says Cathy Leibensperger, Saucon Valley High School's wrestling scorekeeper for 44 years: “I look at the other inductees and I see people that have traveled the world, people that coached champions — I’m just a little scorekeeper from a little high school in Hellertown, Pennsylvania.”

Through a partnership with Da Vinci Science Center, Allentown students from Central Elementary School will regularly visit the museum's new Hamilton Street location to learn about manufacturing, artificial intelligence, the human body and the environment.

Barbara Clymer, communications coordinator for the Bethlehem Area School District, is a finalist for the inaugural National School Communicator of the Year Award.

The Young Playwrights' Festival features scripts written by 13 elementary and middle school students from Bethlehem. The show will take place on Sunday at Northeast Middle School.

Palmer Township police Officer John Smoke, the school resource officer at Easton Area High School, waived his preliminary hearing in Palmer Township on Friday.

Students from Broughal Middle School popped their way to the top at the sixth annual "What's So Cool About Manufacturing" (WSCM) contest Wednesday in Harrisburg.

The Saucon Valley School Board is set to make a decision “in the coming weeks” on whether or not to keep a school resource officer on campus, according to Lower Saucon Police Chief Thomas Barndt.

Costas Alestas, a former Bethlehem police officer and soccer coach at East Hills Middle School, intends to plead not guilty to multiple sex-related crimes involving two middle school students, his attorney said.

Parkland School Board approved a preliminary budget Tuesday that would take the millage rate from 16.30 mills to 17.12 mills — an increase of 5%. A final vote on the budget is pending.

In the midst of budget season, Easton Area School District is examining figures to trim a tax increase and bridge a multimillion dollar gap between revenue and expenditures.

The Bethlehem Area School Board passed a preliminary 2024-25 budget at a Monday special meeting. The district plans to increase taxes and pull from a surplus fund to balance the budget. The final budget will be adopted in June.

Parkland School District is likely taking on two expansion projects at Parkland High School and Orefield Middle School. More details are now coming to light about what they will look like — and how much they will cost.

Forty international students from around the globe are finishing up their school year spent in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding area soon, then will head back home to their families. International Host Family Week celebrates exchange student programs.