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. -
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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Kids are singing more frequently and playing more instruments in city school classrooms, thanks to beefed-up state funding, according to educators. Cooking, nutrition and financial literacy also are getting more attention.
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The Allentown School District Foundation has raised more than $8 million to support students in the city's schools since 2009. For reasons that aren't clear, the Allentown School Board is considering cutting ties with the foundation.
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Coleman filed the transparency lawsuit in 2021 before becoming a Parkland School Board member, and ultimately, a state senator representing parts of Lehigh and Bucks counties.
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While moderate Republicans and Democrats prevailed in most races, two Moms for Liberty candidates won seats on the Nazareth Area school board in Northampton County.
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In Southern Lehigh School District, 10 candidates faced off for five seats on the nine-member school board.
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Parental rights are on the agenda in school races as moms versus moms battle for control to set policies on book restrictions, bathrooms, transgender students and teaching history.
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Candidates have different takes on whether taxes should raised to support capital improvements, expanding kindergarten classes and teacher retention.
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The decision comes after several members of community group Promise Neighborhoods, an anti-violence nonprofit, accused Phoebe Harris of unprofessional behavior.
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Nazareth school board members said they want to review the current regulations for reviewing books, concerned it's a slippery slope. Reviewing all books submitted to the district could cost more than $100,000.
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The school board is expected to vote next week on a request by Moms for Liberty to ban a book. Three other written requests have also been filed.
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The Allentown School District will deploy metal detectors at certain entrance points at each of the three high schools in the Allentown School District — Allen High, Dieruff High and Building 21 — and at J. Birney Crum Stadium.
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District staff, students, staff and community members gathered at Allen High School to give feedback about implementing metal detectors and other security measures.
