School News

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 Lehigh Valley STEAM Academy Charter School is seeking approval to open at an office building on South 12th Street that’s zoned for industrial uses.

Democrats in Lehigh and Northampton counties requested three times more mail-in ballots than their Republican neighbors for next week's primary election.

The After School Satan Club met for the first time Wednesday at Saucon Valley Middle School — a little more than a week after a federal judge ordered the school district to allow three meetings by the end of the school year.

Poor road conditions and freezing temperatures are the reason many will push classes back 2 hours on Wednesday.

The National Weather Service recorded 3" of snow at Lehigh Valley International Airport by 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, where school closures opened up a world of opportunity for some kids who wanted to get outside and do some sledding.

The district said it's owed more than $700,000 in school lunch debt, unpaid tuition by ex-employees, missing or damaged Chromebooks and facility fees.

Several districts announced they would be closed Tuesday because of the weather forecast, which calls for 4 to 6 inches of snow in the Lehigh Valley.

The Basic Education Funding Commission failed to produce a bipartisan report. Instead it voted on two reports and only one garnered enough votes.

About 600 elementary school kids watched the college's women's basketball team play as a reward for attending school regularly.

The two school buses the district has already purchased are expected to be delivered sometime in April.

Christopher Schweikert, 29, pleaded guilty to producing pornographic images of a student he engaged in sexual contact. He still faces related charges in Northampton County Court.

The 20-year-old is a youth director with Promise Neighborhoods of Lehigh Valley. She graduated from William Allen High School in 2021 and won election to the school board in the November general election.

Executive Education Academy Charter has been waiting to appeal its application denial since 2021. Gov. Josh Shapiro's nominees were just confirmed by the State Senate earlier this month.

The grant money first approved by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 2018 can go toward making safety infrastructure improvements to facilities.

Lawmakers in Harrisburg passed nearly three dozen laws last week in a final burst of action as they held their last voting session of the year.