Education category, Page 36
2 new Republicans, 3 incumbents to fill Hempfield school board seats
Two new Republicans will join the Hempfield Area School Board after a year filled with debate of national hot button issues and a pause on a planned $132 million high school renovation project. Tracy Miller, 46, who works for a local tax collector, and Jennifer Stape, 38, a stay-at-home mom,...
Hempfield Area security committee ‘ironing out details’ before renting metal detectors
Hempfield Area School District is considering additional metal or weapons detectors for its buildings, but options to safeguard its schools could depend on staffing levels and training, members of the new security committee said. At the committee’s meeting this week, board member Mike Alfery said the group is considering renting...
Bipartisan Norwin School Board victors say they hope to promote respect, avoid polarization
Members of the bipartisan “We aRe Norwin” slate of candidates will form a majority on Norwin School Board, according to unofficial election results. All five members of the slate were leading in unofficial vote tallies from Tuesday’s election. Tim Kotch Sr. led with 11.2%, and Nina Totin came in second...
Pittsburgh school board VP handily reelected along with 3 new members
A Pittsburgh Public Schools board first-vice president cruised to a second term Tuesday, while three newcomers secured board spots following uncontested races. Democrat Devon Taliaferro, who was first elected in 2019, will sit on the board in 2024 alongside newly elected Democrats Emma Yourd and Dwayne Barker. Board member-elect Yael...
‘Mom, there’s a fire!’: Point Park student makes frantic call when scooter catches fire in off-campus apartment
There are phone calls home to mom that college students never want to make. And then there’s the one placed early Saturday by Point Park University sophomore Aidan McFarlane, 19, barefoot, barely awake and frantic, as he realized his battery-powered electric scooter was ablaze in his studio apartment. Billowing smoke...
Carnegie Mellon receives $25M gift for computational biology from trustee and wife
Carnegie Mellon University has received a $25 million gift from longtime Trustee Ray Lane and his wife, Stephanie, to support the institution’s Computational Biology Department. Carnegie Mellon President Farnam Jahanian announced the gift in a note to campus Monday afternoon. He called it a “monumental investment” in an expanding area...
Hempfield teacher with viral TikTok video appears on ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’
A Hempfield Area teacher’s viral creativity has catapulted her to a moment in the TV spotlight. Taylor Crossland, an elementary school teacher at Fort Allen Elementary, wanted to throw a special incentive event for her students to reward them for staying on-task through the end of September. With donated Starbucks...
Penn State student calls for federal probe after students denied access to campus crime data
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. STATE COLLEGE — Nick Rizzio wanted to know why Penn State was sending fewer crime alerts. He had anecdotes. He had emails. He had theories....
School board meetings attract crowds as races become next political frontier
From book bans to gender-neutral bathrooms, culture wars have found a battlefield in Western Pennsylvania schools. National politics increasingly are influencing school boards, as party lines are splitting members over hot button issues such as sex education, trans rights and the appropriateness of classroom materials. School boards’ once-marginally attended monthly...
Central Catholic High School names president
Matthew J. Stoessel recalled taking the Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s light rail system into Downtown Pittsburgh from his Upper St. Clair home. He then transferred to the 71B on his way to Central Catholic High School in Oakland. He had been making that trip as the school’s executive director of advancement...
McKeesport teachers union votes down proposed contract, strike still possible
The McKeesport Area Education Association has voted down a tentative one-year contract, according to Tribune-Review news partner WTAE. The one-year deal had been worked out between the McKeesport Area School Board of Directors and the Association. However, in a vote Thursday night, union members rejected the deal by a vote...
Applications open for Trib Total Media Scholarship Program
Applications are being accepted for the Trib Total Media Scholarship Program, which includes three, inclusive scholarships ranging from writing and reporting to business and marketing. The Trib’s Jim Borden Memorial Scholarship began in 2019 in honor of Tribune- Review managing editor Jim Borden. It’s open to students attending or planning...
State House approves funding for Pitt, Penn State, 2 others — but with a stipulation the universities are balking at
The state House passed legislation Tuesday that Democrats and Republicans quickly hailed as progress toward ending a monthslong stalemate over this year’s appropriations to the University of Pittsburgh and other state-related institutions. But at least one potential glitch has developed — a big one. The House, where Democrats hold a...
Hempfield Area board to vote on temporary superintendent
Hempfield Area School Board members are expected to vote Wednesday to name a temporary superintendent for the district. An agenda posted Tuesday for a special board meeting on Wednesday indicated the board may name the district’s current assistant superintendent for elementary education, Kimberlie Rieffannacht, to the position. Bob Reger, the...
Political divide in Norwin separates factions vying for control of school board
Ten candidates — five each on the Republican and Democratic ballots — have formed competing factions in the race for five seats on the Norwin School Board. The board has been divided into two factions for 22 months and voters likely will determine Nov. 7 which slate of candidates will...
Point Park University wants to increase enrollment by 30%, house older adults
Point Park University wants to attract artists, single parents and retirees to live on its campus as part of an effort to reinvigorate Downtown Pittsburgh and add 30% to the school’s enrollment by decade’s end. On Monday, leaders of the Downtown university with 3,300 students unveiled a strategic plan outlining...
IUP set to open $90 million classroom hall
Hannah Borys and her classmates may feel like time travelers once their Indiana University of Pennsylvania science classes move from a dated 1960s hall into a gleaming venue designed to promote collaboration across disciplines. The $90 million John J. and Char Kopchick Hall at IUP is set to open in...
Multimillion-dollar anonymous donation benefits Catholic high school students in Greensburg and Pittsburgh dioceses
The generosity of an anonymous donor is helping to bridge the financial gap faced by some Catholic school students as they seek to continue their Catholic education into high school. The same donor has contributed nearly $7.5 million to the St. Pope John Paul Tuition Opportunity Partnership over the past...
Boys graduate high school at lower rates than girls, with lifelong consequences
BUFFALO, N.Y. — They attend the same classes with access to the same programs, and even come from the same families. But girls consistently are outperforming boys, graduating at higher rates at public high schools around the country. The gap between them is wide, often as wide as the achievement...
Higher education haunts: Ghostly tales abound at local colleges and universities
The great thing about university ghost stories is that you don’t have to believe in the paranormal to derive a thrill from the tale, according to “Paranormal Pitt” author Matt Swayne. Instead, you get “ghostlore,” — folklore that centers on ghosts or spirits — or stories where people claim to...
Private colleges in Western Pa. eye shared services, cooperative purchasing
Apparently for colleges in and around Pittsburgh, the idea of joining forces is worth a look. With enrollment at many colleges dropping and cost pressures growing, several private colleges in Western Pennsylvania have been considering whether they ought to form a consortium to share services and make joint purchases. For...
Number of freshmen seeking bachelor’s degrees at U.S. colleges drops 6%, report says
The number of college freshmen enrolling in bachelor’s degree programs nationally declined this fall by 6% from last year, but overall enrollment rose 2.1%, according to a report released Thursday. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center report offered a mixed enrollment picture as higher education emerges from the pandemic. The...
Westmoreland County Community College president will resign in summer 2024
Westmoreland County Community College’s first female president announced her resignation at the college’s board of directors meeting Wednesday. Tuesday Stanley, 55, who joined WCCC in 2014, will remain in her position at the school near Youngwood through June 30. She will have served as president for exactly a decade. Stanley...
Owner’s rep will evaluate stalled Hempfield Area high school project
Hempfield Area School District’s new owner’s rep, McKinley Architecture and Engineering, will assess the district’s stalled high school renovation project over the course of the next two months and return with their findings. The school board approved the new owner’s representative contract with a not-to-exceed fee of $30,000 for the...
Hempfield mulls librarian feedback on book posting policy
Hempfield Area School District librarians are requesting a portion of the district’s policy on book acquisition be changed in order to potentially save the district money on reading materials. Approved in August, the policy requires school librarians to post lists of books they intend to purchase 30 days before they...
