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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Evelyn Santana was appointed in January to fill Nick Miller's vacant seat on the board. Miller was elected to the state Senate. -
The plan to bring in-house the routing of bus runs to start with 2023-24 school year was designed to save the Allentown School District money.
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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 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.
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Gov. Shapiro, Lehigh Valley lawmakers acknowledge political divisions, outstanding education fundingMembers of the politically divided Pennsylvania Legislature must compromise on a fix to resolve education funding inequities to the state's poorest public schools.
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The athletic director announced the middle school cheer team's winter season was being postponed “with careful consideration and commitment to the overall well-being of our students.”
