Free Republic

Desks sitting six feet apart will not allow students to skirt the universal mask or face shield mandate ordered by the state Department of Health, according to guidance that was issued on Monday to school officials. Pennsylvania’s Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said on Tuesday this guidance is a clarification, rather than a change, in rules that were sent out to schools in July that drew a lot of questions. “What we heard is some of the language isn’t as clear as it could be so we wanted to make sure that we were as clear as possible,” Levine said...

Students over the age of 2 will be required to wear face coverings for nearly the entire school day under Pennsylvania’s universal mask order, according to a Department of Education memo released this week. There will be a limited number of instances in which students will be allowed to remove their face coverings, according to the memo. These include while eating or drinking, or during an activity that makes mask-wearing unsafe. Students can also take their masks off during 10-minute “face-covering breaks.” “For the safety of students, staff and families and to avoid community spread of COVID-19, students and staff...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — More than a month into the statewide school closure, state Education Secretary Pedro Rivera says with current data, he doesn’t see schools reopening in the fall. “We’re preparing for the best, but we’re planning for the worst,” Rivera said. He said schools across the commonwealth have stepped up by providing continuity of education through online and print materials, as well as programming broadcast on public television. “At the end of the day, we’re going to make sure that the health and welfare of our students is first and foremost, front and center,” Rivera said. “And we’re...

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education must reduce capacity and/or consolidate degree programs at its 14-member schools if they are to survive and prosper, says a scholar at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. The system is a state-owned group of universities. Its schools range in size from Cheyney University, with just over 700 students, to West Chester University, with more than 15,000 full-time students. But enrollment has been flagging. The number of Pennsylvania high schoolers graduating each year -- which represents the largest pool of State System students -- has plateaued and is expected to fall. That, and...

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania public school districts would be required to post “In God We Trust” in every school building under legislation that advanced out of a committee in the state House of Representatives this week. The bill sponsored by Rep. Rick Saccone, R-Allegheny, passed the House Education Committee on Wednesday by a 14-to-9 vote, with only one Democrat and one Republican crossing party lines. The National Motto Display Act, as it is titled, credits James Pollock, a 19th century Pennsylvania governor, for putting the term on coins while serving as director of the U.S. Mint. The measure would require...

During an Advanced Placement biology course in Easton Area High School, Jennifer Estevez's teacher sped through the large chapter on evolution, focusing on one formula for the AP exam and the basics: survival of the fittest and natural selection. In those high school years in Northampton County, she also would attend a Baptist leadership retreat where a speaker denounced evolution as false, unproven science. Seemingly unimportant and even discredited, evolution fell off her radar. So the Easton student, who is a Baptist, arrived at Duquesne University last fall considering herself a creationist, a person who generally believes God created the...

Racial violence around the country is spreading into schools and growing in intensity. And thanks to YouTube, school district superintendents and the media are having a harder time denying it. The latest episode took place this week in Woodland Hills High School in Swissvale, a suburb of Pittsburgh. For two days, 70 black students – and some parents – were punching, kicking, and terrorizing themselves and neighbors. A “riot,” said Swissvale police chief Greg Geppert. All on video – a video “too graphic for WTAE news to show in its entirety.” “At least three of the people we see in...

Federal agents served a search warrant on Thursday at the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School in Midland, the largest cyber school in the state with more than 11,000 students. The Department of Justice would not say what agents with the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Education were seeking there or at least three other locations where warrants were served. In a statement, the Justice Department said the Beaver County school, founded in 2000, “is not a current target of this investigation.” Founder Nick Trombetta, 57, could not be reached for comment. On June 30, he stepped down...