School News

Driver education programs have dwindled in public schools across Pennsylvania, but still offer benefits. In the Lehigh Valley, only 5 school districts offer instruction of some kind. The local intermediate units and private driving schools fill in the gaps.

Superintendent Jack Silva spoke about the district's opportunities for career readiness experiences. As for challenges, Silva said the Trump administration's executive orders have raised concerns for BASD.

Schweyer, chairman of the Pennsylvania House Education Committee, said the department handles many important functions for public K-12 schools and higher education institutions.

At 19,580 square feet, the new field house would be built using the same footprint as the current annex building on site and would be used each day for gym classes and the like, NDHS Principal Jaclyn Friel told planners on Monday.

Easton Area School District has confirmed their preliminary budget shows a $7 million deficit for fiscal year 2026, and a growing reliance on the fund balance.

The owner of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs has concerns over how a proposed stadium project at the Executive Education Academy Charter School will affect parking at nearby Coca-Cola Park.

Bethlehem Area School District is facing a challenging budget deficit amid flat state funding and uncertainty at the federal level under the Trump administration.

Students from Arts Academy Elementary Charter School will visit the Allentown Art Museum this week as part of a new program to get students to engage with artwork in person.

Not long after being moved from Harrison-Morton, Allentown middle-schoolers situated at St. Francis School will be split and sent off to other buildings due to a mechanical issue.

The Parkland School District's board approved a comprehensive plan Tuesday, laying out the district's priorities for the next three years.

A proposed 25,800-square-foot childcare center in Salisbury Township would be named in memory of Monsignor John P. Murphy, long-time cleric in Allentown who died in 2023 at age 86.

Students have been learning online since last Wednesday. Teachers are reporting to other schools throughout the district to lead their online classrooms.

Bethlehem Area, Northampton Area and Saucon Valley will all continue sending their students to the vocational-technical school. This agreement comes after months of tense debate about the school's future.

The Whitehall-Coplay School Board on Monday accepted a letter of retirement from Director of Athletics Bob Hartman. Hartman has served in that role for 23 years. His retirement is effective in August.

The donations will go toward family engagement, peer mentoring and elementary athletics programs as a long-term strategy for preventing crime and drug use.

The Allentown School Board approved the purchase of land for a new K-8 school Thursday. School directors faced critiques of the land's price tag and the construction management firm it chose for the school project.

Superintendent Carol Birks said compliance with federal guidelines will focus on the language ASD uses rather than a complete overhaul of its programs.

Cedar Crest College will use a $608,000 grant from the U.S. Justice Department for creation of an Expert Witness Training Center and Crime Scene Lab.

If the policy is approved, Bethlehem Area would become the fifth district in the region to put a generative AI policy on the books.

Also citing presidential executive orders, NASD could up going over its coursework with a fine-tooth comb.

Northampton Area School Board approved its role in the deal, while Bethlehem Area School Board is up for the same vote in the coming weeks.

A draft version of East Penn School District's budget for the 2025-2026 school year includes a 0.84-mill tax hike. The district has raised property taxes nine times in the past 10 years.