Bethlehem K-5 students expected back in class 4 days a week by mid-April
Updated Mar 16, 2021;
Bethlehem Area School District leaders support bringing K-5 hybrid schedule students back in the classroom four days a week starting April 12.
Superintendent Joseph Roy wants the school board to approve the plan to return students to class two more days a week at its March 22 meeting. April 12 is the start of the fourth marking period.
Roy presented his recommendation for a four-day schedule at Monday night’s school board meeting.
“We are now at a critical juncture. We must reexamine the balance we struck in August,” Roy wrote. “Students have not attended school regularly for an entire year. The academic and mental health challenges caused by the pandemic are undeniable.”
Stimulus offers Bethlehem schools shot at cleaner air
Updated Mar 16, 2021;
The Bethlehem Area School District plans to use its estimated $49 million in federal stimulus dollars to accelerate the replacement of six schools’ HVAC systems and to combat COVID-19 related learning loss amongst its students.
The HVAC replacements at Farmersville, Miller Heights, James Buchanan, Calypso and Hanover and Governor Wolf elementary schools have been languishing for years on the district’s capital plan, which calls for the eventual replacement of all of its HVAC systems.
Bethlehem’s been tackling an HVAC replacement or two a year to spread out the cost and has weighed taking out a $10 million bond to fund HVAC projects.