School News

The school board approved a preliminary budget Monday night. It does not raise property taxes in the 2023-24 school year.

They have been working without a contract since last summer and say they are overworked and short-staffed.

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.

Board Treasurer Donald Carpenter thanked residents from all sides of the topic at hand for their emails in to the board. He said he received upward of 40 messages.

City planning officials on Tuesday reviewed the "impending" sale of McKinley Elementary School, which opened in the 1880s.

A little more than two years after a ceremonial ribbon-cutting opened a Center City location, DeSales University has quietly shuttered its educational hub at 932 Hamilton St.

Allen High School's pool, which was built around 1970, has been leaking for years, causing the school to restrict access to the athletic facilities below it. It was the subject of a social media post that has gained considerable attention.

School Director Emily Gehman said Southern Lehigh has a pattern of pay disparities between female employees and their male colleagues.

“We were looking for answers that aligned with our vision as an association for the work that we want to do in the district,” said Allentown Education Association President Leslie Franklin.

The planning commission will review the sketch plans for the athletic complex Oct. 15. Central Catholic plans to fundraise for the project as part of its centennial capital campaign.

Starting next week, a bridge carrying Lower Macungie Road over the Pa. Turnpike will close. East Penn School District officials warned families to allow extra time to get to and from school.

The false bomb threat prompted a 90-minute evacuation at Allen High School on Thursday. Police are investigating.

Candidates discussed the ethical use of AI in classrooms, how to keep school property taxes low and the district's upcoming plans for transitioning to a full-day kindergarten program.

Candidates for Southern Lehigh School Board participated in a forum Tuesday at the Univest Public Media Center organized by the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County. There are seven candidates on the ballot, vying for four seats.

After a round of public interviews Monday, school directors chose David Gogel, 74, to fill a vacancy. He previously served on the school board for 20 years.