School News

Pre-school orientation is scheduled for the week of Aug. 21.

A pretrial conference was held Wednesday in federal court stemming from Liberty High School Assistant Principal Antonio Traca's federal civil rights lawsuit against retiring Superintendent Joseph Roy and the Bethlehem Area School District.

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

This week's Supreme Court ruling overturned 45 years of precedent. What remains to be seen is how much damage it might do to our competitiveness as a nation — and how colleges and universities can help mitigate it.

Speakers accuse public school officials, teachers' unions of trying to "sexualize children" or indoctrinating them. Some called for restricting LGBTQ books. Protestors traveled from the Lehigh Valley and beyond to stand against the Moms for Liberty's "extremism" and in support of LGBTQ people.

High school seniors in Pennsylvania would be required to fill out a form that determines eligibility for financial aid for postsecondary programs under a bill passed by the state Senate.

Public school advocates worry vouchers will divert money from public education into charters or private schools.

Michael St. Pierre will assume the position as the diocese's fifth superintendent effective Aug. 1, the diocese said in a news release

Maria Shantz was one of a group of Republicans who signed a controversial pledge to create policies around gender and rejecting "wokeness."

At a Thursday reorganization meeting, the school board selected its president and vice president. Five school directors also were sworn in at the meeting, including four who are brand new to their roles.

The Whitehall-Coplay School District held its third annual Zephyr Holiday event at the Burlington store in Whitehall. Twenty-four elementary and middle school students from challenged families were given $200 gift cards to shop for holiday gifts for family members. Members of area law enforcement accompanied the children during the event.

Bethlehem Area School District is tapping one of its own to lead Hanover Elementary School. The new principal comes to the role with nearly two decades of experience in BASD.

In addition to board officer elections, four new school directors were sworn in Tuesday after having won their seats last month.

At their annual reorganization meeting Tuesday, Parkland School District's board chose new leaders and swore in four winners of last month's election.

Easton Area School District took a preliminary look at the 2027 budget Tuesday, highlighting a prospective $7 million gap, alongside several cost-saving strategies intended to help EASD rebuild its reserves.

The third time was the charm for LoriAnn Fehnel, who was sworn in as a Whitehall-Coplay School District director on Tuesday.

With the approved state budget, Bethlehem Area won't have to draw as much money from its reserves as it initially anticipated. The state budget was late by more than four months.

Members of Carly's Cause have spent the past several months building plans to meet with colleges and universities to forge new partnerships focused on off-campus housing safety.

The high school's Central City Project offers a monthly food pantry, drawing inspiration from the Catholic Worker Movement.

Ryan O’Connell and Scott Sheriff spoke to students at Saucon Valley High School about their music careers.

The Allentown K-8 Academy is set to offer more than 200,000 square feet of academic and creative spaces when construction wraps up during the 2027-28 school year.