In the Wake of Sandy, The Game Goes On

As Freedom Patriots and Liberty Hurricanes compete on the gridiron this afternoon, students from both schools will cooperate to collect donations for the Red Cross.

  Last year’s annual meeting of Liberty and Freedom high school football teams meant not only Christmas City bragging rights, but a slot in the PIAA Class 4A playoffs. In a classic nail-biter, the Patriots won 45-42, its first victory over the Hurricanes in nine years, on a dramatic game-winning field goal by Sean Wrobel with less than 30 seconds left to play. With Freedom at 4-5 and Liberty at 2-7, both teams have not had the seasons they hoped for going into this year’s annual tilt, which will be played today at BASD Stadium at 1 p.m. It nonetheless carries great significance for Bethlehem. Yes, it’s a rivalry game between two teams that share a city and a school district. Liberty holds the historic edge, having won 29 of 44 previous …

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State to Monitor BASD for Testing Irregularities

The state Department of Education says it closed an investigation on Bethlehem Area School District for testing irregularities but still plans to monitor the district.

State to Monitor BASD for Testing Irregularities

The state Department of Education says it closed an investigation on Bethlehem Area School District for testing irregularities but still plans to monitor the district.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education says it closed an investigation of testing irregularities at the Bethlehem Area School District but will continue to monitor the district's schools on PSSA testing. In 2011, the state began investigating 48 school districts and charter schools around the state based on significant increases in student test scores in some schools, according to the state Education Department.  The probe found that at some schools in Pennsylvania, student answer sheets had been altered with questionable erasures, dating back to the 2008-2009 school year, inflating Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, the state said.  Of those 48 districts and charter schools, 30 were cleared of wrongdoing, the state said.  …

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School Lunches Changing Thanks to Federal Law

New requirements mean more vegetables, fruit, whole grains and beans, and less fat and sodium in your child's school lunch.

  School bells will ring out across Bethlehem this morning as the 2012-13 academic year gets under way. Kids may notice that some aspects of their school lunch have changed thanks to a new federal law aimed at reducing childhood obesity. The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act “requires schools to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat- free and low-fat milk in school meals; reduce the levels of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat in meals, and meet the nutrition needs of school children within their calorie requirements,” according to this informational flier produced for the Bethlehem Area School District by its school meal provider, Sodexo. Some of the changes that you or your child may notice, according to the …

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Federal Jury Decides BASD Must Pay $10,000

Lawsuit came out of years of disagreement between school district and mother of autistic, yet mathematically gifted, boy on how to best educate him.

  A federal jury has decided that the Bethlehem Area School District was guilty of retaliating against a mother who filed multiple complaints about the education plans for her two sons and ordered it to pay her $10,000, according to published reports. After nearly two weeks of testimony, the jury took two-and-a-half hours to rule in favor of Diana Zhou, who filed a counter suit against the district in 2009 after the district sued her, alleging that she was deliberately driving up the district’s legal cost to get it to send her sons to Moravian Academy, according to The Morning Call. Presiding U.S. District Judge J. William Ditter must still decide on the district’s original claim against Zhou. The district filed the claim under a provision…

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Did Mom Abuse Her Rights in School District Fight?

Diana Zhou battled for years with Bethlehem Area School District over her sons’ education. Did it really benefit her sons and at what cost?

The case of Diana Zhou’s fight with the Bethlehem Area School District has made for fascinating reading, partly because it shows an extreme version of the conflicts that can bubble up between school districts and parents of children with disabilities. Zhou has been locked in a lawsuit with BASD over more than $200,000 in legal costs. The district incurred them responding to about two dozen complaints Zhou filed over BASD’s education plans for her two sons, one of whom has Asperger’s, which is on the autism spectrum. Testimony during the federal civil trial in Philadelphia in the last week showed the frustration of BASD administrators and teachers in trying to satisfy Zhou, who appeared to find fault with everything they did for her …

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ted.dobracki

9:57 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012

For the record, the day after thise article was posted, a jury granted Zhou $10,000 in her countersuit against BASD. But BASD's case against Zhou is still in the judges hands, since it will be decided by the bench. A somewhat odd situation, since, in theory, the judge can rule the other way, making both sides winners! I don't think he will do that, he will either rule the same way or throw out …   more ›

Married, Same-Sex Couples Recognized by BASD

Bethlehem Area School District providing benefits to same-sex couples with marriage licenses from other states.

  Same-sex spouses of Bethlehem Area School District employees can have employee benefits like traditional married couples, district officials said Monday night. Adrian Shanker, president of Equality Pennsylvania, hailed the administrative decision as a landmark, saying the Bethlehem Area School District may be the first government body in Pennsylvania to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state as being equal to a traditional marriage. “You are to be applauded for your work in advancing equal rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community,” Shanker told board members on Monday night. The district is not extending benefits to gay couples in domestic partner arrangements – like the cities of Allentown and Easton do…

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Superintendent Gives Plan to Replace Nitschmann Middle School

Bethlehem School District Suerintendent Joseph Roy introduced a plan Monday to ask voters if they want to see Nitschmann Middle School replaced.

The condition of Nitschmann Middle School in Bethlehem has been a problem for years, and the school board has been thinking of replacing it for about as long. Now, the Bethlehem Area School District will let the voters decide what to do in a referendum, according to The Morning Call. At the Facilities Committee meeting on Monday, Superintendent Joseph Roy introduced a plan to put the question to voters in 2014, with the new school to open in 2018, if voters approve it. Would you vote for it? Leave a comment. The estimated cost would be in the millions, and that’s why it has to go to a referendum. The district can't borrow that much money without exceeding the state's limit on annual property tax increases, according to The Express Times. …

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Class of 2012 Graduates from Freedom High School

459 students will celebrate their commencement this evening.

Proud parents, family members and friends will gather this evening at Stabler Arena to watch as 459 members of the Class of 2012 of Freedom High School are granted their diplomas and officially graduate high school at their commencement ceremony. The theme of the event will be “Freedom Family.” The class valedictorian is Alexa S. Curto, daughter of Carl and Karen Curto, who will be attending Johns Hopkins University in the fall. Speeches will also be given by Courtney L. Barrow, daughter of Thomas and Audrey Barrow, chosen by the Freedom faculty, and Paul W. Skersis, son of Victor and Mary Skersis, who was chosen by his fellow classmates. Barrow will be attending Penn State University and Skersis will be attending Lehigh University, …

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Bethlehem Area Ranks 370th in PSSA Scores

Bethlehem Area School District ranks 370th out of 500 school districts in Pennsylvania.

  The Bethlehem Area School District ranks 370th out of 500 school districts in Pennsylvania, based on its performance on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) Exam, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times. The Pittsburgh Business Times recently released its 2012 Guide of Western Pennsylvania Schools. The guide lists the school district rankings on the PSSA scores statewide. The formula for the ranking takes into account three years of PSSA test scores in math, reading, writing and science, according to The Business Journals. Three years of scores are considered, with the current year given the most weight. According to the rankings, Bethlehem Area was ranked 356th in 2011, dropping 14 spots in the past year. Here's how …

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tracey

11:33 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012

That sort of thing has long been a fear of mine and my husband's. Our daughter is also an honor roll student, in the honors program, and has been consistently for several years. Lately we've been asking where is the incentive to perform well? We often wonder if she isn't a "ringer", being used to try and bolster overall poor performance by uncommitted students.   more ›