School News

Pennsylvania lawmakers moved closer to establishing a statewide restriction on student cell phone use in public schools, as the state House passed legislation requiring "bell-to-bell" phone bans during the school day.

Renato M. Lajara, as assistant superintendent for Network 8 in Philadelphia School District oversees 15 schools and more than 8,000 students, will take over for Bethlehem Superintendent Jack P. Silva, who will retire June 30.

The Freddy Awards is now in its 24th year. The ceremony will take place on May 21 at State Theatre.

A school district email said that at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, "during an administrative search of a student's belongings, school officials discovered a loaded firearm inside a student's school bag."

"The entire regiment deserves some sort of reconsideration, whether it’s by BusPatrol or by legislative change,” PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.

Midway Manor Community Association has been using its park since entering a "handshake agreement" almost 70 years ago, according to residents.

At the new theme-based school, the goal is for students to become bilingual and biliterate. The superintendent said the academy is an effort to honor the district’s large Latino population.

The Midway Manor Community Association could lose access to its lifeblood if Allentown School District adds more modular classrooms at an East Side academy.

Lawmakers voted 46-1 on Senate Bill 1014, bipartisan legislation that would require public schools to adopt "bell-to-bell" policies restricting student use of smartphones and other internet-connected devices throughout the entire school day.

Guests enjoyed dinner Tuesday night at Bethlehem's United Steelworkers Union Hall before a panel of five women tried to make sense of rising costs for housing, groceries, healthcare and other essential needs.