K-12 News

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

Brad Klein and Ryan Gaylor go behind the scenes on Gaylor's recent story on the ‘After-School Satan Club’ controversy in Saucon Valley School District.

Volunteers read to elementary school students across the Lehigh Valley for Read Across America Day on Thursday. The United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley and Lehigh Valley Reads coordinated the effort.

A Thursday morning panel discussion at Univest Public Media Center in Bethlehem focused on a new statewide report showing that early childhood care teachers earn less than $12 an hour and are planning to leave the industry for higher-paying jobs.

At a school board meeting Tuesday, superintendent Jaime Vlasaty defended the decision not to allow the after-school Satan club to meet on campus, saying the group violated district rules.

20-year-old Ceu Uk, of Charlotte, allegedly threatened a shooting in the Saucon Valley School District in response to an after-school Satan club being allowed to meet on district property.

Joanne Dillman, a former educator and a North Whitehall resident, is running for a seat on the Parkland School Board.

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

As interest in the education field continues to decline, the report recommends systemic changes. A hearing of the state Senate Education Committee to examine the issue is set for this week.

The district superintendent said she was reversing course and rescinding approval for the club to use Saucon Valley Middle School. She said a violation of school board policy sparked the move.

Concerns over students’ mental health made headlines last year.

Just like businesses, school cafeterias are being hit by supply chain and labor shortage issues. Meaning in this pandemic, even the school lunch menu is TBD.

This fall, the pandemic’s kindergarteners entered first grade. For some students, this marked a milestone: their first time attending school in person.

The past year and a half has been traumatic for many people, including children. Many are starting the school year once again under the cloud of COVID-19. A Lehigh Valley yoga instructor is sharing ways to help kids de-stress.

The Bethlehem Area School District’s Miller Heights Elementary is operating remotely after a dozen COVID-19 cases affected students in five of its classrooms.

Tuesday was the start for Pennsylvania’s K through 12 masking mandate. The order was issued last week by Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam, not Gov. Wolf. Sarah Anne Hughes, deputy editor for SpotlightPA, a nonpartisan investigative newsroom which has been covering these issues, recently joined us by phone to discuss the move by the Wolf administration.

Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives is mulling a legislative challenge to the Wolf administration’s latest mask mandate for schools. A group of state senators, meanwhile, is readying a bill to change the state’s constitution to prevent those mandates.

Whitehall-Coplay Superintendent Robert Steckel said they’re “staying the course” with their COVID-19 health and safety plan, but making adjustments for outside mandates such as the Wolf administration’s school masking requirement which went into effect on Sept. 7.

School districts across Pennsylvania are preparing to enforce a masking order handed down by Secretary of Health Dr. Alison Beam.

Pennsylvania officials on Tuesday announced a mask mandate for students and teachers in schools Pre-K to 12 and for licensed childcare providers.

Three contenders for the next superintendent of the Allentown School District have been selected by the school board.

It’s the first day of classes for Catholic school students in the Diocese of Allentown, and they’ll be wearing masks.