School News

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.”

Aryash Shyam and Sudha Chandrasekaran, sixth-graders from Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School, won first place at the state competition of National History Day earlier this spring. They compete in the national round of the contest next week with their exhibit on the Great Depression.

Two proposed school district land development projects were among projects advanced by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Planning Committee on Tuesday afternoon.

Northampton Area Public Library was slated to get $270,000 from Northampton Area School District for the upcoming fiscal year. But some school directors want to keep the money in NASD.

The school board accepted the resignation of Kim Bretzik at their meeting earlier this week. Applicants will be interviewed to fill the vacancy April 30.

Debbie Merisca has been a teacher since 2018. She left the hospitality industry to find fulfillment working in early childhood education.

In 1989, Yusef Salaam and four other teenagers were imprisoned after being wrongly accused and convicted of raping a woman in Central Park in New York. At Northampton Community College on Tuesday night, he shared his story and the need to address inequities in the criminal justice system.

Parkland Area School Board reviewed the district's capital action plan Tuesday, and even though 2026 projects are limited at the moment, the potential for more spending and a potential tax increase to accommodate it, remain.

The Whitehall-Coplay School Board is considering a request to start a varsity girls wrestling program.

First Baptist Church is home to Bethlehem’s branch of Upward Sports. With the gym floor aging, Paul Kocher, director of Upward Sports, and the Bethlehem Upward Sports community, are raising money to replace it.

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.