School News

A new program hitting Pennsylvania high schools is just one of many ways the state is responding to a teacher shortage that’s created cascading staffing challenges across the Commonwealth.

Central Bucks South High School librarian Matt Pecic said a principal told him to take down four posters with a quote from Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel.

The changes were previously criticized by one board member as 'hippy-dippy, woke stuff.' On Thursday night, they passed unanimously.

Superintendent Joe Roy says no violation of law or regulation was found. But the Pennsylvania Auditor General's Office said the district had other options at its disposal rather than relying on taxpayers.

Easton has been struggling with a shortage of school bus drivers for at least the past few years. Students were getting to school late or getting home late, so the district purchased software last year to design bus routes instead of doing them by hand to find efficiencies.

District Business Administrator Robert Saul presented a draft preliminary 2023-24 budget that shows a $7 million increase in projected expenditures, primarily driven by wage, benefits and service cost increases.

Under the proposal, history would be taught in themes instead of chronologically. ASD Board Director Phoebe Harris called it "woke" and opposes the change.

Director Patrick Foose has recently clashed with other board directors and has been the lone dissenting vote on several issues related to transparency on the board.

Lehigh president Joseph J. Helble said "racist language" was used, but the assault was not racially motivated.

Some Lehigh Valley school districts are reviewing their safety protocols for responding to injuries at area football games after Damar Hamlin's recent collapse brought renewed attention to the dangers of the sport.

Deacon Anthony Koury, who served Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church in Easton for decades, died Wednesday.

A one-day symposium at Lehigh gathered decision-makers from Pennsylvania's big-name universities, talking strategy for recruiting students cross-border and overseas, and touting economic and cultural benefits.

East Penn School District took another look at the 2024-2025 budget will a focus on priority project spending on April 8, highlighting around $2 million in special education and administrative expenses.

Five students from Northampton Community College have been named to the 2024 All-Pennsylvania Academic Team.

The event's theme this year is "All Jazzed Up," and students shared what they're excited — or jazzed up — about in their own lives.

Lower Saucon council unanimously agreed on Wednesday to have Police Chief Thomas Barndt go before school officials to gather opinions before potentially moving forward on a school resource officer.

DeSales University in Upper Saucon Township sent out a message saying it will reopen at 10 a.m. Thursday, but then reversed course and said the campus would remain closed due to the ongoing power outages.

The school district informed the community it will dismiss all students early “out of an abundance of caution” ahead of the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8.

You Are The Light is a recognition program in the Allentown School District that celebrates staff and students. The district selects honorees each month to be featured on LehighValleyNews.com.

More than 350 young students throughout the Greater Lehigh Valley participated in a mural painting event at Lehigh Valley Children's Center in Allentown on Thursday.The completed mural will appear on an exterior wall of the new Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown. The center is slated for a May 22 opening.

The Northampton County District Attorney’s Office and Lower Saucon Township police have announced additional charges in connection with bomb threats made in the school district last week.

East Penn administrators pushed for a slate of new hires to the district, making permanent temporary positions that were created from COVID relief funding.