Bethlehem Area board OKs preliminary budget with 2% tax increase mcall.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mcall.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Bethlehem school district strives for 5 days of in-person school next year
Updated May 10, 8:45 PM;
Posted May 10, 8:45 PM
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The Bethlehem Area School District hopes to have all students K-12 back in school five days a week next fall.
Assistant Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer Jack Silva announced the goal at a Monday evening school board meeting.
District middle and high school students remain on a hybrid learning schedule, where they learn in-person two days a week. Elementary students returned to school four days a week last month.
“Things are definitely looking up in terms of both vaccinations and the success of the mitigation we’ve had at the elementary level since spring break,” Silva said. “. The general trend is down, and we’re hopeful that that continues for the rest of this school year and allows us to do the planning for the 2021-22 school year, where our goal is to return students to school five days a week.”
Bethlehem school taxes could rise 2% under latest budget proposal
Posted May 11, 2021
The Bethlehem Area School Board backed a $315.5 million proposed spending plan that hikes taxes by 2% and relies on $3.8 million in district savings to balance the budget.
The district is facing a $7.7 million funding gap in its 2021-22 budget. Superintendent Joseph Roy said the administration wants to close that hole by hiking taxes and dipping into the fund balance. The board unanimously approved the proposal at its Monday night school board meeting.
Roy emphasized that on Monday the board just needed to approve a proposed budget 30 days ahead of the final budget adoption scheduled for June 14.
COVID vaccine clinics held for students by some school districts in the Lehigh Valley mcall.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mcall.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lehigh Valley educators rally for lawmakers to increase school funding by at least $1.15B
Posted May 06, 2021
Lehigh Valley educators rallied for increased state funding for education May 6, 2021, at Marvine Elementary School. Bethlehem schools Superintendent Joseph Roy is seen speaking.Screenshot
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Pennsylvania educators gathered across the state Thursday to urge state lawmakers to increase basic education funding by at least $1.15 billion next school year.
At one of six rallies statewide, Lehigh Valley school leaders and board members gathered outside of Marvine Elementary School in Bethlehem to talk about how before the COVID-19 pandemic, skyrocketing employee pension, charter school tuition and special education costs left districts cash-strapped. Now to recover from the pandemic districts need sustained state funding to help them recover, speakers said.