Education category, Page 32
As architect for Hempfield Area High School project resigns, district looks for new firm
Hempfield Area School District is looking for a new architect to work on its high school improvement project after the Bellevue-based firm that worked with the district since 2022 resigned. The school board Monday approved the resignation of Core Architects and approved seeking other architecture firms to work on the...
Carnegie Mellon boosts tuition to $64K per year
Undergraduate tuition will soon cost more than $64,500 at Carnegie Mellon University under new rates for the 2024-25 academic year. That will boost overall undergraduate charges by 3.72%. The new $64,596 yearly tuition was adopted by school trustees and outlined in a message to the campus this month from Provost...
A bullet on note in IUP classroom causes angst and reflects reality of college life
The handwritten note found in a classroom on the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus seemed harmless at first: “Hello student. Hope you have a good day!” But it ended cryptically with the initials “JK,” “lol” and an acronym for foul language. Then came something more ominous: A bullet was placed...
Mt. Pleasant, Franklin Regional, Butler seniors score scholarships in annual Saint Vincent competition
High school senior Eli Duvall’s post-secondary plans recently got a boost when he learned he’d earned a full-ride scholarship to attend Saint Vincent College in Unity. Duvall, who attends Mt. Pleasant Area Senior High, has been awarded a scholarship covering four years of tuition, room and board, as the top...
Hempfield Area moves forward with weapons detector trial at high school
After several months of deliberation on potential security upgrades, Hempfield Area School District will test out a new weapons detector system at the high school on Feb. 21. The OPENGATE weapons detectors, a product of Ohio-based CEIA USA, are walk-through weapons detectors that don’t require students to take off their...
FAFSA angst sweeps across Western Pa. for prospective college students
Many prospective college students and their parents are feeling angst over delays associated with the federal financial aid application, known as FAFSA, that millions rely on. An update to the application system last year has resulted in delays this year. As a result, it could be mid-March before colleges receive...
Pitt trustees discuss ways to raise national profile
University of Pittsburgh trustees Thursday heard an update on the university’s five-year strategic initiative dubbed “Plan for Pitt” and elected a new board chairman. Their meeting was punctuated by a noisy but peaceful pro-Palestinan protest outside the Assembly Room in the William Pitt Union. The demonstrators numbering a few dozen...
Criminal background checks waived for some student employees at Pa. state universities
Some student employees who work jobs at the 10 state universities would be exempted from the Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education’s criminal background check policy. The system’s governing board on Thursday approved the policy change that carves out student employees who have no direct contact and/or routine contact with...
Stop the Violence Pittsburgh holds annual Black History Month summit and essay contest
Stop The Violence Pittsburgh held its sixth annual student Black History Month Summit and Essay Contest Wednesday at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Oakland. The summit brought out more than 600 students from regional high schools, including Aliquippa High School, Oakland Catholic High School, Fox Chapel Area...
Shapiro’s college plan could be ‘transformational,’ Pa. higher education board chair says
Minutes into Thursday’s State System of Higher Education board meeting, chair Cynthia Shapira summed up in her own view the enormous stakes for public higher education in Pennsylvania: “If we do this right, the new system represents an opportunity to be transformational.” She was referring to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal...
PennWest University embarks on search for new president
Efforts to identify PennWest University’s next president are advancing this week after the school finished assembling a 25-member search committee. Members are a mix of State System of Higher Education leaders and representatives from the California, Clarion and Edinboro campuses, which were merged in 2022 to create Western Pennsylvania’s largest...
Cough? Sore throat? More schools suggest mildly sick kids attend anyway
Trenace Dorsey-Hollins’ 5-year-old daughter was sick a lot last year. Dorsey-Hollins followed school guidelines and kept her home when she had a cough or a sore throat — or worse — until she was completely better. Near the end of the year, the school in Fort Worth, Texas, called her...
Gov. Shapiro seeks billions for Pa. schools, development in budget that envisions legal marijuanaVideo
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Gov. Josh Shapiro’s second budget proposes significant increases to education and economic development and would regulate adult use marijuana, while leaning heavily on Pennsylvania’s flush reserves to underwrite his vision. On Tuesday, the Democrat unveiled his budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which begins on July 1,...
Shapiro’s budget proposal seeks funding increase to merge state-owned universities and community collegesVideo
A unified system of 10 Pennsylvania state-owned universities and 15 community colleges would see a near-historic, 15% increase in state funding under Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed 2024-25 state budget, which was unveiled Tuesday. The increase would support his plan, announced last month, to overhaul the state’s higher education system and...
Raising taxes on the table as Pa. weighs how to pay for education court ruling
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania likely needs billions of dollars to shore up its public schools following a landmark court ruling, but lawmakers are entering a new...
Dartmouth reinstates SAT test requirement. Will Pa. colleges follow?
The pandemic that drove students from campuses in March 2020 also accelerated a decadeslong shift away from using the SAT/ACT in college admission. By last spring, more than 8 in 10 colleges nationally and in Pennsylvania no longer required standardized tests. That trend could be reversing itself — at least...
New Greensburg Central Catholic principal aims to ‘be a part of moving it into the future’
For Theresa Szmed, the past month has been all about listening. Szmed was hired as principal for Greensburg Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School in November and took the reins in January, with assistance from interim Principal Sharyn Zalno. “It’s been a fantastic adventure, and it’s been overall positive,” said Szmed,...
High school financial literacy requirement long overdue, experts say
Rina Foley would like to see some of her peers boost their personal finance prowess. “I honestly don’t think this generation has a good knowledge of how to handle their finances,” said Foley, 21, of Leechburg, who is a senior at Seton Hill University. That’s bad for young adults and...
Slovak president to visit Pitt and tour Nationality Rooms
Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová will visit the University of Pittsburgh on Sunday to meet with Chancellor Joan Gabel and other campus leaders, months after a delegation from that country visited to explore potential academic collaborations. Both trips come at a time when Pitt and other universities are emerging from a...
IUP eyes potential location for medical school, state announces ‘investment’ in project
The state will invest $2 million in startup funds toward developing a College of Osteopathic Medicine at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman announced Wednesday night. Pittman, R-Indiana, delivered the news at a public reception welcoming the proposed college’s recently named founding dean, Miko Rose. It...
Pitt graduate workers request union recognition
Graduate workers at Pitt are asking for voluntary recognition of their union, claiming majority support for collective bargaining. Hundreds of graduate workers, United Steelworkers organizers and unaffiliated supporters gathered on the first floor of the Cathedral of Learning Tuesday to deliver a letter to Chancellor Joan Gabel with a request....
Report highlights ongoing racism at 10 Pa. State System universities
More than one Black university student recalled being compared to an animal. Another found a Confederate flag on his dormitory door. Others spoke of white peers saying, “I hate Black people.” And there was this anecdote which, like the others, was shared with a Pennsylvania senator traveling the State System...
Schools are using surveillance tech to catch students vaping, snaring some with harsh punishments
When Aaliyah Iglesias was caught vaping at a Texas high school, she didn’t realize how much could be taken from her. Suddenly, the rest of her high school experience was threatened: being student council president, her role as debate team captain and walking at graduation. Even her college scholarships were...
Long-sought charter school changes on table as Pa. lawmakers plot education funding overhaul
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering significant changes to the way charter schools are funded as they undertake a monumental overhaul of public education mandated...
Despite rising salaries, there’s a shortage of qualified superintendents. Politicized school boards and covid fallout have contributed
Superintendents of two of the largest school districts in Westmoreland County — Hempfield Area’s Tammy Wolicki and Norwin’s Jeff Taylor — announced last week they would be leaving their posts. Their departures come on the heels of Leechburg Area Superintendent Tiffany Nix’s resignation. She announced in December that she would...
