School News

Just about everything appears to be in order in regard to an agreement between Easton officials and the school district to revamp Vanderveer Park.

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.

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.

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.

Bethlehem native Julianna Rodrigues, who has a form of muscular dystrophy, was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Collaborative at Moravian University, on Tuesday morning.

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.”

Many Pennsylvania educators and school employees may not have received unemployment benefits since stay at home orders began.

Athletic competition could soon return to parts of Pennsylvania. WESA’s Sarah Schneider reports that new preliminary guidance was released Wednesday, June 10.

The nation’s highest honor for graduating high school seniors is being named a U.S. Presidential Scholar. Only three students in Pennsylvania earned that honor this year - and two happen to not only live in the Lehigh Valley, they also go to the same school.

Bethlehem Area School District is working on contingency plans for the new school year in September.

For a full list of our reports and resources, visit WLVR.org/health and keep up with the latest news on this situation on our Live Blog.

All schools in the Allentown School District and the Easton Arts Academy are closed today and tomorrow amid concerns around the coronavirus. Multiple sources are reporting the Easton case is related to a student’s travel to New York.

The global coronavirus outbreak is disrupting spring break travel and study abroad classes for local colleges.

Penn State University Lehigh Valley broke ground on a 14.4 million dollar addition to its Center Valley campus yesterday.

Schools in the Lehigh Valley are collecting shoes this month for a local nonprofit called “Kindness is Magic.”

Bethlehem-based Lehigh University has cancelled its study-abroad program in Italy.

With the coronavirus outbreak causing school closures in the state of Washington, educators across the country are preparing for the possibility of having to do the same. The CDC’s director said last week students should prepare to attend virtually.

Local Lehigh Valley colleges are confronting the risk of infection for students studying overseas and traveling for spring break.