School News

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

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.

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.

The appeal involves potential open meetings violations.

Workers and their dependents can now get up to $2,000 a year for tuition, room and board at any of the 10 Pennsylvania State System universities.

At the latest hearing for the proposed facility, both witnesses spoke about the need for recovery houses. "There's as much effort being made to get the drugs out there as to keep them also on the down-low, very silenced, so no one really can tell. And they're attacking our young population.” Julissa Pena, a witness for the applicant said.

At the request of the Northampton Area School Board, the district administration provided options for where the district could save money as budget discussions for the 2025-26 fiscal year got underway.

School directors had to choose from seven options for updating Moore Elementary, ranging in cost from $15.5 million to $70 million.

There's an ongoing investigation into a sixth-grade assignment that asked students prompts about slavery, according to the school district superintendent.

Custodial and maintenance workers in Allentown School District voted Thursday to join Teamsters Local Union #773. They hope the Teamsters can help them negotiate a better contract.

Custodial and maintenance workers think the Teamsters could help them get a stronger contract when their current one expires in June. Allentown School District is recommending workers vote for no union representation.

Phoebe Harris, 59, first was elected to Allentown School Board in 2017. She has advocated for students and sometimes found herself at the center of controversy.

In the last year and a half, Allentown School District spent more than $1.4 million on new instruments and hired 34 educators to teach the related arts, which include band, choir and orchestra, among others.

Allentown School District's director of child nutrition services has added more culturally diverse options to school lunch menus. Students have noticed the changes, and they're happy about it.

Young students of Roosevelt Elementary School squealed with joy when Santa Claus, Teddy Oso and Lehigh Valley IronPigs' mascot FeRROUS roamed the hallways at the annual Christmas event.

Allentown school directors approved the 2025-26 program of studies Thursday, adding 23 new courses for secondary students across multiple subjects.

The fourth and final phase of the $58.7 million Parkland High School expansion project was approved by the South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners on Wednesday night.

Joe Shields has served in the role before, and will now do it again until December 2025.