Schools

Pennsylvania nudged school districts to reopen elementary schools Thursday by changing its official guidance.

A federal judge in California has blocked a rule that Michigan, seven other states and four big-city school districts said would unlawfully allow too much pandemic relief aid to be diverted from K-12 public schools to private ones.

Pennsylvania state government agencies are providing school leaders with advice about how to respond when students or employees with confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been on school property, from cleaning and tracing their contacts to shutting down buildings for two weeks or longer.

Elementary and secondary schools in the yellow and green phases of the state’s reopening plan could resume in-person instruction as early as July 1. Higher education institutions may be able to do so on June 5, the Pennsylvania Department of Education announced Wednesday.

Pennsylvania's 500 school districts are facing a projected loss of up to 5% in the revenue from local taxes as coronavirus pandemic shutdowns take a heavy toll on the economy, a leading public schools group said Tuesday.

School districts across the state are figuring out how to create remote learning systems after Gov. Tom Wolf said schools would remain closed indefinitely. But some districts have held off, saying they were concerned they wouldn’t be able to teach all students – especially those with special needs.

Pennsylvania Education Secretary Pedro Rivera is “strongly encouraging” school districts to find ways to teach students while schools across the state are shut down.

Nearly 1.7 million kids in Pennsylvania are out of school for at least the next two weeks as a preventative measure to ease the spread of coronavirus.

Gov. Tom Wolf made that call Friday afternoon. He said schools that don’t meet the state’s 180 instructional day requirement won’t be penalized, but it’s unclear if days will have to be made up. The state did say schools are not mandated to instruct students during the closure. Most schools plan to resume normal operation March 30.

A group of Pennsylvania lawmakers and environmental advocates are trying to lower the lead levels in schools.

The National Rifle Association has awarded more than $237,000 in grants to 25 Pennsylvania schools in recent years, according to an Associated Press analysis.

The NRA Foundation grants went to school programs including the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps and rifle teams. More than 80 percent of the grants were provided as equipment rather than cash.

Only a fraction of Pennsylvania's 500 school districts received awards between 2010 and 2016.

Pennsylvania  Rep. Tony DeLuca is calling on the state’s Department of Education to step in and oversee the Penn Hills School District’s finances.

Last week, the school board approved increasing property taxes for the second year in a row, just months after Auditor General Eugene DePasquale released an audit that found the district had accumulated more than $170 million dollars of debt.

What little difference four years can make.

Students at Kenderton Elementary have seen five principals and heard countless broken promises in fewer years.

What was supposed to be a routine visit to the pediatrician with little Oren resulted in a finding that sent Katy Rank Lev and her husband, Corey, into a frenzy.

Their 1-year-old had lead in his blood.

The state is trying to get the word out about a bullying prevention hotline that’s been up and running since before the beginning of the school year.

The 24-7 service takes messages from people concerned about bullying in Pennsylvania schools. Social worker Karla Joyce-Good handles responses as part of her job at a non-profit partnering with the state. She said there’s good reason to care about bullying.

  The results of last week's Pennsylvania Supreme Court election could have wide-ranging implications for a number of high-profile cases related to education issues in Pennsylvania.

Three Democrats swept the open seats on the state's highest court – shifting the balance of power 5-to-2 in their favor when they assume the bench in January.

Pennsylvania schools have borrowed at least $431 million since the state’s budget impasse began in July.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said his office has now heard from more than half of the state’s school districts in an effort to track the fiscal effects of the state’s budget stalemate.

“It’s bad now, but we go from bad to borderline disastrous if something isn’t done by Thanksgiving,” DePasquale said.

Many Pennsylvania public schools are starting the school year with a worried eye toward Harrisburg.

Some are putting off bills. Some plan to borrow money. But Education Secretary Pedro Rivera said Monday he's not sure how much longer the budget impasse can continue before school operations are compromised.

Pennsylvania school districts whose communities are similar economically are supposed to receive about the same amount of money per student from the state.

But officials have long complained that isn't happening.