
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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Parents in many area school districts are back to buying their childrens’ school lunches after pandemic-era universal free school meals ended. But price increases in food and housing costs, some families are struggling to pay those lunch bills.
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The $21M plan affects 1.7 million children across the commonwealth.
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Lawmakers this year approved an additional $79M for high-quality preschool programs.
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Speeding and a lack of police presence are among the issues, according to residents.
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Staff vacancies are the most pressing issue affecting Pa. schools, according to the PSEA.
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Parents and teachers have complained for years about the lack of air conditioning in several of Allentown School District’s classroom buildings. But parents of one student with medical conditions say they worry the recent heat is endangering their child’s health.
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Muhamad Diop is charged with making terroristic threats and harassment, authorities said.
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Allentown School District classes start today, Monday Aug. 29, for the district’s more than 16,000 students.
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Schools Superintendent Carol Birks hosted the forum. She said she wanted to make sure the public understands how the district is spending its money.
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Lehigh Valley state Rep. Mike Schlossberg's legislation to create more local teachers received the support of 19 Republicans and now moves to the state Senate.
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Five Republican candidates have signed a pledge to ban transgender students from using the bathroom of their choice and review the curriculum for "wokeness."
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Executive Education Academy Charter School wants 90 more Allentown students.
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Dieruff High School principal Michael Makhoul resigned this week, on heels of William Allen principal being put on administrative leave
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Afterschool Satan Club is asking a federal court to be let back on campus.
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The Bethlehem school was closed for two days after the wall on an exterior stairwell collapsed Monday.
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The Bethlehem Area School District formally accepted Superintendent Joe Roy's resignation and hired assistant superintendent and chief academic officer Jack Silva for the role.
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A Children First report looked at Allentown, Pittsburgh, Chester-Upland and Philadelphia school districts.
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Allentown schools Superintendent Carol Birks said she plans to form a task force find ways to enroll more young children into early learning programs, with families on waitlists across the Lehigh Valley and statewide.
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The Upper Nazareth Township Board of Supervisors vetoed an inclusivity celebration in a heated meeting Wednesday night. The organizer says the event will still happen, but in a new location.
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The schools are under pressure from the Shapiro administration to improve outcomes for students.