Education category, Page 39
Shortage of substitute drivers disrupts bus routes at Hempfield Area
Hempfield Area School District’s bus contractor is facing a shortage of substitute drivers. The district’s primary school bus contractor, First Student, is struggling to field substitutes to fill in for four regular Hempfield drivers who are out sick, according to a letter sent to parents Monday. The lack of substitutes...
Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Class of 2028 will be last to receive Pittsburgh Promise scholarships
Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Class of 2028 will be the final group of students to receive Pittsburgh Promise scholarships, the nonprofit behind the scholarships said in a letter to district parents. Saleem Ghubril, executive director of The Pittsburgh Promise, said he is confident that the nonprofit will be able to complete...
More cuts planned at deficit-plagued West Virginia University
West Virginia University Libraries, already hit this year with a 30% cut in its operating budget, now faces up to $800,000 in personnel cuts under measures announced Wednesday to shore up the university’s deficit-plagued finances. The action is outlined in one of the letters delivered by the provost’s office to...
Overhaul of Ohio’s K-12 education system is unconstitutional, new lawsuit contends
COLUMBUS — Seven Ohio school board members are alleging that a Republican-backed overhaul of how the state oversees K-12 education — including decisions on academic standards and school curricula — violates the state’s constitution, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday. Through changes included in the latest state budget, oversight of...
A Black student is suspended twice for his hairstyle. The school says it isn’t discrimination
MONT BELVIEU, Texas — A Black high school student in Texas has been punished with an in-school suspension over his hairstyle for over two weeks. The family has argued he is not violating the dress code, but when he arrived Monday wearing his hair still in twisted dreadlocks tied on...
Saint Vincent graduate fellows pursue advanced degrees, support local school districts
There are two additional students in the classrooms of Franklin Regional School District this year: two graduate students from Saint Vincent College. The Saint Vincent College Fellowship program brings two students enrolled in Saint Vincent’s master’s of education program to Franklin Regional for the next two academic years. “It’s a...
IUP professor collaborates with Queen guitarist on book about Bennu asteroidVideo
An Indiana University of Pennsylvania professor is part of a group of authors whose recent book explores the Bennu asteroid, which scientists believe is a sort of “time capsule” from the dawn of the solar system. And since they were studying a rock, they recruited a rock star to help...
West Virginia University will make wide-ranging cuts to academic programs and faculty
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia University will make wide-ranging cuts to academic programs and faculty positions as it addresses a $45 million budget shortfall, with the board’s vote Friday culminating an impassioned back-and-forth between the campus community, students and officials. The state’s largest university will drop 28 of its majors,...
Greenfield Elementary students help design schoolyard proposal
Students at Greenfield Elementary often play in a parking lot or on a grass field during recess and after school. Soon, they’ll have a new community schoolyard with playground equipment, a turf field, trees and other amenities. Students on Wednesday helped unveil designs for the schoolyard, which were crafted, in...
Chatham University reduces staff, streamlines operations to address budget deficit
One of Pittsburgh’s small, private universities is facing layoffs and cuts, joining a dubious trend hitting institutions of higher education across the country. The university said it is working to reduce its budgetary deficit and reviewing academic programs as possible areas to cut costs. Chatham projected an operating budget deficit...
Study: Pennsylvania public schools underfunded by $6.2 billion
Pennsylvania needs to increase its investment in public schools by $6.2 billion to help students meet graduation rate goals and proficiency on state exams, according to a school finance expert. Penn State assistant professor Matthew Kelly told a panel of policymakers the figure was his conservative estimate of what was...
The ‘science of reading’ swept reforms into classrooms nationwide. What about math?
For much of her teaching career, Carrie Stark relied on math games to engage her students, assuming they would pick up concepts like multiplication by seeing them in action. The kids had fun, but the lessons never stuck. A few years ago she shifted her approach, turning to more direct...
Hempfield considers hiring ‘owners rep’ to navigate stalled high school project
Hempfield Area School District may consider hiring an outside professional to lead the district through its increasingly expensive high school revitalization project, board members said at a meeting Monday. The district is considering hiring an owner’s representative — someone to navigate the project as an independent fiduciary, said board member...
Penn State to consider asking state for millions more next year while awaiting this year’s funding
Penn State has yet to receive any state funding to support the university’s operating budget this year but its trustees are poised to ask for millions of dollars more for next year. A university trustees’ committee on Thursday voted to recommend the full board consider requesting $368.1 million from the...
West Virginia University faculty express symbolic no confidence in President E. Gordon Gee
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia University faculty approved a symbolic motion on Wednesday expressing no confidence in President E. Gordon Gee as the university addresses a $45 million budget shortfall. The university is struggling with the financial toll of dwindling enrollment, revenue lost during the covid-19 pandemic and an increasing...
Pitt Seed program invests in projects proposed by faculty, staff
Boosting the teacher pipeline in Pennsylvania and helping marginalized students succeed in college are among the five projects that have been selected for investment by the University of Pittsburgh. The program, called Pitt Seed, provides internal financial support for pilot projects that have growth potential and could have direct impact...
West Hempfield, Wendover parents explore middle schools at Open House
The halls of Wendover Middle School and West Hempfield Middle School in Hempfield were bustling with noise and activity Tuesday night — but not with students. Parents gathered and hurried from classroom to classroom, following the sound of the PA system’s bell as they traced their middle school students’ schedules...
WVU cuts come into focus as no-confidence vote for President E. Gordon Gee is set for Wednesday
An expected decision by West Virginia University’s governing board on which academic programs to cut has come into sharper focus as a potential vote of no-confidence in president E. Gordon Gee looms Wednesday. The preliminary recommendations from WVU administrators involving two dozen academic departments were made public Aug. 11. They...
Geneva College to waive tuition for students from families earning under $70KVideo
Geneva College says it will waive undergraduate tuition starting next fall for students from households making less than $70,000 — the latest move by a small private campus in a tough higher education market to give price breaks based on family income. The private Christian college in Beaver Falls said...
Franklin Regional students will create, sell 3D-printed products through foundation grant
Generally speaking, math class is math class. Students learn math. In English class, students read and write. But teachers at Franklin Regional School District’s intermediate school will blend elements from across the educational spectrum as they work with a group of students to stock and run a student store. “Leadership...
East Allegheny is latest school district to install cameras to catch bus safety violatorsVideo
East Allegheny School District officials say they are tired of motorists ignoring state law prohibiting them from passing stopped school buses. Through a partnership with local law enforcement and the safety company BusPatrol, the district now has measures in place to identify the license plates of drivers who put students...
‘Teach to Remember 9/11’ virtual education program to offer new resources for educators
The Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial will offer a free, virtual education program this September for the National Day of Learning — “Teach to Remember 9/11.” The program is being offered for the first time as part of the evolving 9/11 ceremony at the memorial honoring the 40 passengers...
Children hit hardest by the pandemic are now the big kids at school. Many still need reading help
They were the kids most disrupted by the pandemic, the ones who were still learning to write their names and tie their shoes when schools shut down in the spring of 2020. Now, they’re the big kids at elementary schools across the United States. Many still need profound help overcoming...
As workers scramble to finish upscale student high-rise in Pittsburgh, college students scattered in temporary housing
Hailey Garza, a Carnegie Mellon University sophomore, envisioned herself this fall in luxury high-rise student housing just off campus on Forbes Avenue — a complex with a 24-hour fitness center, coffee bar and hot tub. Instead, she’s in Shadyside — in a basement Airbnb that sometimes has a subterranean smell...
CCAC to offer free courses in computer information technology
The Community College of Allegheny County will offer free, for-credit courses in computer information technology starting next week at its Homewood-Brushton Center. The menu of 12- and 14-week, in-person courses have two start dates: next Tuesday and on Sept. 18, officials said Thursday. Costs for tuition, fees and textbooks are...
