School News

Parkland High School teachers reported suspected misconduct by ex-performing arts administrator Frank Anonia more than a decade before his arrest on charges of secretly recording a student in a dressing room, a former teacher testified. Anonia is due in court for a criminal trial this week.

The Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter School in Allentown held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its $16.8 million school for fourth-to-eighth graders on Friday morning.

Commonwealth Charter Academy, a large, public, cyber charter school for all school-age children, plans to convert a nearly 47,000-square-foot, one-story building into office space for teachers and staff at 2200 W. Broad St.

Critics of the hiring process argued for a superintendent search instead of a direct appointment. Others said Karen Trinkle had more than proven herself ready to lead, and a search would be lengthy and costly.

Planned to open to students for the 2027-28 school year, the roughly $59 million project will go up on the same land as its predecessor facility, which dated back to the 1930s.

School directors voted 5-2 to approve Ethan Ake-Little’s resignation and settlement agreement. His resignation takes effect Aug. 31.

Southern Lehigh school directors appointed Karen Trinkle as chief of schools. They also approved a settlement agreement with Ethan Ake-Little, the HR director who filed discrimination and retaliation complaints against the former superintendent.

Ethan Ake-Little has been suspended with pay since June while the district investigated allegations about his job performance. Ake-Little previously filed discrimination, retaliation and fraud complaints against the former superintendent.

Additional cleaning and air quality testing remain underway at Sheridan and Ritter elementary schools, Allentown School District said in an update Sunday.

School directors are scheduled to vote Monday on whether to promote Assistant Superintendent Karen Trinkle to chief of schools. The proposed five-year contract comes a month after school directors voted to part ways with the previous superintendent.

A property tax hike as high as 5.3% may be assessed to help close a nearly $7 million spending gap in the proposed 2025-26 Whitehall-Coplay School District budget.

During National Library Week, local libraries celebrated their community role amid uncertainty. A federal order to shut down the Institute of Museum and Library Services threatens essential funding for many library programs.

The Allentown School District said it's working with BusPatrol and the City of Allentown to analyze the data it receives. Violations also have been high in neighboring municipalities.

Giant Markets Feeding School Kids Program made a donation of $8,623.86 to the Allentown School District's Child Nutrition Department on Friday.

Hanover Township Elementary School Principal Erin Hines was arrested after crashing into three parked cars at the Stefko Shopping Center on Saturday, March 29, Bethlehem police said.

State Rep. Jeanne McNeill has sponsored a bill that would address the need for carbon monoxide detectors in child care and family care centers. An incident at an Allentown day care in 2022 sparked the legislation, but previous bills have not made it past the state Senate.

Building an elevated stadium would allow the school to maintain all but about two dozen parking spaces under the new complex.

Catasauqua Area School District is recommending the 101-year-old tradition be canceled because of safety concerns. Northampton Area's football players are stronger than the Rough Riders, Catasauqua Area's football coach said.

At least one pipe burst in mid-February, causing extensive flooding that moved learning out of the middle school. Learning first moved online before students were assigned to temporary sites throughout Allentown for in-person learning.

The local mascot is currently facing off against a canine mascot from a Midwestern high school in the Sports Illustrated contest.

An existing one-story annex building, which is set to come down, will provide a footprint for the new facility and more space for recreation and classrooms at the high school campus at 3417 Church Road.

Bethlehem Area school directors want to ban cell phone use at the district's middle schools and limit access to the handheld devices at the high schools.