K-12 News

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.

Northampton Area Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik will no longer retire at the end of this school year like he planned. The superintendent said it's not the right time for him to leave the district.

Allentown School Director Lisa Conover first joined the board in late 2017 and was re-elected in 2021. She will not run for re-election in the 2025 cycle.

After a maintenance issue closed Harrison-Morton Middle School for repairs in mid-February, students and staff learned virtually for eight days. Last week, they returned to in-person learning at temporary sites throughout Allentown.

Formed in 2008, local weekend event in May features separate day of beer and wine tastings, followed by a for-kids-only day of art and science fun.

The Northampton Area School Board approved Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik's retirement last November. The board, however, will consider rescinding his retirement during its Monday night meeting.

Superintendent Joe Roy says no violation of law or regulation was found. But the Pennsylvania Auditor General's Office said the district had other options at its disposal rather than relying on taxpayers.

Easton has been struggling with a shortage of school bus drivers for at least the past few years. Students were getting to school late or getting home late, so the district purchased software last year to design bus routes instead of doing them by hand to find efficiencies.

District Business Administrator Robert Saul presented a draft preliminary 2023-24 budget that shows a $7 million increase in projected expenditures, primarily driven by wage, benefits and service cost increases.

Under the proposal, history would be taught in themes instead of chronologically. ASD Board Director Phoebe Harris called it "woke" and opposes the change.

Some Lehigh Valley school districts are reviewing their safety protocols for responding to injuries at area football games after Damar Hamlin's recent collapse brought renewed attention to the dangers of the sport.

Levinson was originally appointed to the East Penn School Board in September 2018 and was later elected to a full four-year term in 2019.

Parkland School Board Vice President Marisa Ziegler announced her reelection campaign Tuesday.

Christopher Schweikert, 27, of Coplay, who also is a teacher at Freedom High School, had a sexual relationship with the girl, whom he coached, according to Northampton County prosecutors.

The board had two vacancies due to the resignations of now-State Sen. Nick Miller and former Director Charlie Thiel.

The Allentown School Board will interview nine applicants to fill two board vacancies following the resignations of Board Director Charlie Thiel and state Sen. Nick Miller.

Some worry that supports for families at the schools could be lost.

Khalid Mumin, who has been superintendent of the Lower Merion School district in suburban Philadelphia for a little over a year, will be nominated for education secretary after Josh Shapiro is inaugurated on Jan. 17.