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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The Allentown School District made school uniforms optional this year for the first time since 2013. -
Bethlehem Area School District teachers hit the streets on the city's South Side to help students feel comfortable transitioning to a new school experience.
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A federal court judge is allowing the assistant principal who filed the civil rights lawsuit to amend his complaint. It stemmed from an altercation at a high school football game last fall.
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Last year, Bethlehem Area and Allentown school districts were waitlisted to get rebate funding through the Clean School Bus program. Another round of applications for this fiscal year is open until later this month.
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House Education Committee Chair Peter Schweyer said Level Up funding should be released immediately.
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Participants can learn to hand-blow a glow-in-the-dark jellyfish orb or paperweight.
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The R&B artists thrilled the crowed with beloved favorites from throughout their careers.
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Residents near the area had been asked to shelter in place.
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A bill in the state Legislature proposes to fix the problems that have put a pause on enforcement in places like Allentown and Bethlehem. And the program will expire in October unless new legislation is passed.
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Allentown and Bethlehem Area school districts both get Level Up funding, which is on hold until lawmakers approve a fiscal code determining how the funds are spent.
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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.
