K-12 News

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.

Pennsylvania State Police said the victim was hit by a tractor-trailer along Interstate 380 in Tobyhanna Township, Monroe County. Sean Richmond, 38, was a 2004 Easton High grad and current coach and athletic director at Stroudsburg.

Nearly 45 Allentown students have participated in a new mentorship program at Lehigh Parkway Elementary School this year. The program pairs fifth-grade leaders with younger students to help them reach academic and behavioral goals.

Allentown high school students will learn about data analytics and artificial intelligence during an eight-week summer program with DeSales University in which they earn a stipend and college credits.

A 54-year-old time capsule was removed from a cornerstone at Mosser Elementary School in Allentown on Thursday. A few alumni from the 1969 sixth grade class were in attendance.

Three Republican school board members are now part of the panel governing Nazareth schools, including two endorsed by the Moms for Liberty Northampton County chapter.

The Parkland School Board has officially entered its post-election era, but the directors still have one more two-year seat left to fill.

Allentown School District didn't attach the new food services contract to its Nov. 16 agenda despite union's assertion the school board had the final draft when it voted.

Under current plans, the new school would be built in 2025-2026 and replace the one that goes back more than 100 years.

A state mandate requiring schools to identify sexual content in books could cost Lehigh Valley school districts significant time, money and resources.

ASD Schools Superintendent Carol Birks said she believes it will take at least six months to determine the best ASD outcomes for graduates.

LehighValleyNews.com has requested a copy of the five-year contract, which is retroactive to July 2022. A media law expert says the details should have been available to the public when the board voted on it.

Members of the politically divided Pennsylvania Legislature must compromise on a fix to resolve education funding inequities to the state's poorest public schools.

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

The athletic director announced the middle school cheer team's winter season was being postponed “with careful consideration and commitment to the overall well-being of our students.”

Kids are singing more frequently and playing more instruments in city school classrooms, thanks to beefed-up state funding, according to educators. Cooking, nutrition and financial literacy also are getting more attention.