A change in Pennsylvania’s education laws allows school districts to move away from a requirement that students attend classes for 180 days each school year. But anyone dreaming of four-day school weeks shouldn’t get their hopes up. By changing just one word in the state’s school code late last year,
Lincoln Elementary School officials recently celebrated student behavior, revealing discipline referrals have dropped from 203 in 2019 to 42 this year.
BELLEFONTE Michael Fedisson, principal of Bellefonte Area High School, was named Pennsylvania’s 2024 Principal of the Year by the Pennsylvania Principals
Kiski Area School District can claim another award-
winning principal. Brian Swartzlander, Kiski Area Upper Elementary School principal, was named Pennsylvania’s 2024 National Distinguished Principal by the Pennsylvania Principals Association. Dan Smith, then-assistant principal of the building, won an award through the state association in 2021. Swartzlander called the experience “surreal.”