Sarah Mueller
Education reporterAn experienced journalist, I joined LehighValleyNews.com as its education reporter. I bring several years of media experience at public radio stations including NPR Illinois, WFSU Public Media and Delaware Public Media. I’ve covered state and local government, interviewing lawmakers, governors and congressional leaders. In my personal life, I’m a passionate animal lover, hiker and documentary enthusiast. A documentary for which I worked as a researcher, Fire in the Meadows, won first place at the 2022 Tallahassee Film Festival for best documentary short film. It explored the effects of an investor buying a local mobile home park, raising rents and forcing tenants out of their homes. Contact me at SarahM@lehighvalleynews.com or and subscribe to my newsletter here.
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Early education advocates say there has been a slow erosion of the number of programs, workers and classroom slots in the Lehigh Valley, and across Pennsylvania, since federal funding expired last year.
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The district said it's owed more than $700,000 in school lunch debt, unpaid tuition by ex-employees, missing or damaged Chromebooks and facility fees.
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The Basic Education Funding Commission failed to produce a bipartisan report. Instead it voted on two reports and only one garnered enough votes.
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About 600 elementary school kids watched the college's women's basketball team play as a reward for attending school regularly.
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The two school buses the district has already purchased are expected to be delivered sometime in April.
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The 20-year-old is a youth director with Promise Neighborhoods of Lehigh Valley. She graduated from William Allen High School in 2021 and won election to the school board in the November general election.
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Executive Education Academy Charter has been waiting to appeal its application denial since 2021. Gov. Josh Shapiro's nominees were just confirmed by the State Senate earlier this month.
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The grant money first approved by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 2018 can go toward making safety infrastructure improvements to facilities.
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The lawsuit alleged retired chief of schools Joe Roy punched an assistant principal during a 2022 high school football game.
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The social studies teacher at William Allen High School was accused of drug crimes following a March raid of her home by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. She resigned a few weeks later, citing "personal" reasons.
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Students at Dieruff High School were placed on a brief lockdown Tuesday morning after a teen was taken into custody by law enforcement, authorities said.
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Northampton Area Board of Education said it would have been on the hook for about $9.5 million if construction contracts were cancelled for a new elementary school.
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The school district denied the application earlier this year. STEAM charters are also applying for charters in Bethlehem and Whitehall.
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The 11-year-old Golden Retriever comforted Stephen Zamojski, whose Saint Bernard recently passed.
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Capt. Jonathan Taylor's sword is on display at Nitschmann Middle School. He died in early 1863 after being wounded 105 days earlier at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
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Former board members Nancy Wilt, Patrick Palmer and Evelyn Santana did not seek re-election.
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Three Republican school board members are now part of the panel governing Nazareth schools, including two endorsed by the Moms for Liberty Northampton County chapter.
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Allentown School District didn't attach the new food services contract to its Nov. 16 agenda despite union's assertion the school board had the final draft when it voted.
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Under current plans, the new school would be built in 2025-2026 and replace the one that goes back more than 100 years.
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A state mandate requiring schools to identify sexual content in books could cost Lehigh Valley school districts significant time, money and resources.
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ASD Schools Superintendent Carol Birks said she believes it will take at least six months to determine the best ASD outcomes for graduates.
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LehighValleyNews.com has requested a copy of the five-year contract, which is retroactive to July 2022. A media law expert says the details should have been available to the public when the board voted on it.