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.

Several anonymous tips on school threats over the past two weeks have been found false, according to the Allentown Police Department.

According to new data from the Lehigh Valley Justice Institute, higher than ever numbers of suicide attempts and mental health issues among middle and high school students now exist. The group says data showed one in nine Pennsylvania teenagers attempted suicide in 2021, and two in five were depressed.

A songwriting workshop at Broughal Middle School stems from a partnership between the Any Given Child program and Icehouse Tonight.

LehighValleyNews.com and PBS39 will host a community conversation on the future of Allentown School District tonight, bringing together stakeholders to address issues facing educators, students and public education.

Dieruff and Allen high schools and Trexler Middle School were locked down Monday after multiple unsubstantiated threats of mass violence were made to the district. Additional threats were made to Lehigh Career & Technical Institute, which also closed for the remainder of the day.

Muhlenberg College senior Alex Wagner praised Lehigh Valley political candidates who were present and engaged with college students well before the midterms approached. He said it helped push young voters to the polls, and made a difference in several key races.

Rangina Hamidi, Afghanistan's former Minister of Education, will give this year's Wallenberg Tribute Lecture

LCTI students were either evacuated from the building or sent back to home schools if en route

Dieruff High School was dismissed early Thursday morning after receiving multiple threats of violence through Safe2Say, the district’s anonymous tip line.

Allentown School District's Interim Superintendent Carol Birks is vowing to build trust with community members by holding a November community forum. She said, "Given the opportunity, I will stay in this community."

The protesters spoke on the need for transparency and worry about corruption in the Allentown School District in the wake of John Stanford's removal.

Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk and Carol Birks discussed ways to work together, and how the acting schools chief can build trust with community members.