School News

Allentown School District held a kickoff event Thursday at South Mountain to tell students and families about the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program that gives each student an iPad for the school year.

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.

After a school board member submitted their plans to resign, citing "bullying" and "issues with transparency," the Allentown School Board must make it official in a vote at its Thursday meeting.

Whitehall-Coplay School District's board of education seemed pleased with a report of 2023-24 goals on Monday, with the superintendent pleased to report the results play into a series of even longer-term missions.

Whitehall-Coplay School District invited the community into the newly completed Gockley Elementary School on Sunday with an open house.

Gov. Josh Shapiro said he wants all Pennsylvania students have the resources they need to learn and grow, from early childhood through adulthood. That desire will have local impacts too.

While Easton Area School District opted to vote against a proposal to open up Cottingham Stadium so community members can use it for walking, the matter may reappear in the board's future.

Lehigh Carbon Community College might end its intercollegiate athletics program as soon as this year if it can't find an athletic trainer before the 2024-25 academic year begins. That could change, but nothing is official yet.

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Daysell Ramirez, who was elected last November, submitted her plans to resign from the Allentown School Board earlier this week. The board will have to vote to accept her resignation at its next meeting July 25.

Albeit late, lawmakers passed a $47.6 billion plan for the fiscal year that started July 1, with much focus on education this year.

The Wilson Area School Board appointed a familiar face as the district's next acting superintendent. High school Principal John Martuscelli is set to take over in a dual role at the end of this month.

School directors said there's still time to keep the discussion going on how Saucon Valley School District and two other local districts will fund the Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School for the next 30 years.

A proposed contract was presented to the East Penn school teachers union in late June and was rejected 367-11 by voting members.