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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District officials surveyed thousands of students who want the uniform guidelines eliminated so they can express themselves with their own clothing styles. -
Conservative Republican slates targeting LGBTQ issues and library books swept GOP primary races across three districts. Democrats and moderate Republicans who cross-filed landed victories on the Democratic ticket.
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Two of the three candidates supported by Moms for Liberty Northampton survived the primary, both being in Region I.
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The race featured two slates of Republican candidates and one Democrat. One slate of candidates took a pledge to enact policies regarding LGBTQ students and "woke" curriculum.
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The school board approved a preliminary budget Monday night. It does not raise property taxes in the 2023-24 school year.
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They have been working without a contract since last summer and say they are overworked and short-staffed.
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National issues are seeping into local races, turning elections into proxy partisan fights over race and gender.
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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.
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The After School Satan Club met for the first time Wednesday at Saucon Valley Middle School — a little more than a week after a federal judge ordered the school district to allow three meetings by the end of the school year.
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Culture war issues are hot topics in the races for four of the nine seats on the Nazareth Area School Board up for election this year. Three incumbents are not seeking re-election.
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Sources with information about the situation say Cheryl Clark will likely be demoted at Thursday's Allentown school board meeting. She was placed on administrative leave in April.
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Students are paid $15 an hour to work up to 30 hours a week. They can work in various areas such as schools or the central office.
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The Allentown school is looking for barbers, stylists and braiders to help students look their best for picture day on Oct. 13.
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The flower show is being hosted by Bethlehem Garden Club Friday and Saturday.
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The Allentown School District Foundation awarded 77 scholarships to students graduating from Allentown high schools this year, totaling more than $65,000.
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Dieruff High School junior Faith Gross competed against other aspiring actors at talent auditions in Orlando. Gross said she got three callbacks, including from a music producer.
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Gov. Josh Shapiro made a deal with Senate Republicans to include vouchers in the budget, angering Democrats and unions. He reversed that course of action after facing backlash and has promised to veto them.
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The Bethlehem Area School Board kept secret the findings of an independent investigation paid with taxpayer funds. The probe focused on an incident involving the superintendent and a Liberty High School assistant principal at a football game. The assistant principal filed a civil rights lawsuit against Roy and the district.
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The farmers' market almost disappeared in the early 2000s, but community support helped revitalized it.
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A pretrial conference was held Wednesday in federal court stemming from Liberty High School Assistant Principal Antonio Traca's federal civil rights lawsuit against retiring Superintendent Joseph Roy and the Bethlehem Area School District.
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Speakers accuse public school officials, teachers' unions of trying to "sexualize children" or indoctrinating them. Some called for restricting LGBTQ books. Protestors traveled from the Lehigh Valley and beyond to stand against the Moms for Liberty's "extremism" and in support of LGBTQ people.
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Public school advocates worry vouchers will divert money from public education into charters or private schools.
