School News

The Parkland School District budget that was voted on and approved Tuesday night includes a 2.5% property tax increase. The tax hike is district's highest in the past seven years, but is still the lowest millage rate in Lehigh County.

The school board approved a preliminary budget Monday night. It does not raise property taxes in the 2023-24 school year.

They have been working without a contract since last summer and say they are overworked and short-staffed.

National issues are seeping into local races, turning elections into proxy partisan fights over race and gender.

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

Many of the nine candidates seeking one of five seats on the board said the race has been insulated from clashes over social issues.

The four-year contract will raise salaries by nearly 4.7% in the 2023-24 school year, with additional increase each subsequent year. The school board ratified a new contract with the teacher's union, the Allentown Education Association, on Thursday night.

Lehigh Valley high school students had the opportunity to see firsthand what it's like to be a nurse. A nursing simulation was held during National Nurses Week.

A plan two years in the making is proving to be successful in Allentown. Nurses for the city and the district worked together to make sure students are safe from preventable disease.

Candidates have formed two groups: one made up of mostly incumbents, and the other made up of Republican challengers. Transparency, spending and projected overcrowding in the district's middle and high schools have become key issues in the race.

The Whitehall-Coplay School Board on Monday accepted a letter of retirement from Director of Athletics Bob Hartman. Hartman has served in that role for 23 years. His retirement is effective in August.

The donations will go toward family engagement, peer mentoring and elementary athletics programs as a long-term strategy for preventing crime and drug use.

The Allentown School Board approved the purchase of land for a new K-8 school Thursday. School directors faced critiques of the land's price tag and the construction management firm it chose for the school project.

Superintendent Carol Birks said compliance with federal guidelines will focus on the language ASD uses rather than a complete overhaul of its programs.

Cedar Crest College will use a $608,000 grant from the U.S. Justice Department for creation of an Expert Witness Training Center and Crime Scene Lab.

If the policy is approved, Bethlehem Area would become the fifth district in the region to put a generative AI policy on the books.

Also citing presidential executive orders, NASD could up going over its coursework with a fine-tooth comb.

Northampton Area School Board approved its role in the deal, while Bethlehem Area School Board is up for the same vote in the coming weeks.

A draft version of East Penn School District's budget for the 2025-2026 school year includes a 0.84-mill tax hike. The district has raised property taxes nine times in the past 10 years.

V Spehar became famous for UnderTheDeskNews, explaining complex topics in a conversational, to-the-point fashion. On Thursday night, Spehar gave a Q&A with Lehigh President Joseph J. Helble.

The interim principal will take over for Harrison Bailey III, who has accepted the position of superintendent of the Wilson Area School District. A search is underway for someone to fill the job permanently.

The Wilson Area School Board approved the appointment of Amy Austin as the new assistant superintendent. She had been the district's director of curriculum and instruction since 2023 and is a former principal.