MIDSTATE EDUCATION NEWS

Updates on schools in Harrisburg, Cumberland, Dauphin, York & more

• Athletic director to retire
LEBANON - Cedar Crest High School athletic director and assistant principal Barry Heckard will be retiring at the end of the school year.

• Millersburg teachers get 5-year pact
The Millersburg Area School District and the teachers union have agreed on a five-year contract extension.

• Board drops plan to close elementary
ANNVILLE - The Annville-Cleona School Board has scuttled plans to close North Annville Elementary School.

• Changes to teacher education could strain colleges
Sweeping changes in the way Pennsylvania colleges prepare future elementary and middle school teachers are causing an outcry.

• State educators expect Obama policy tweaks
President-elect Obama and Gov. Ed Rendell parrot each other when talking about education.

• District seeks changes in voting regions
The Mechanicsburg Area School Board voted Tuesday to ask the Cumberland County Court to approve changes to the boundaries of the school district's three voting regions.

• Upper Dauphin dismisses accused math teacher
The Upper Dauphin School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to fire a math teacher who had been suspended amid a state police investigation of allegations that he sent sexual text messages to a teenage girl.

• Upper Dauphin fires accused math teacher
The Upper Dauphin School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to fire a math teacher who had been suspended amid a state police investigation of allegations that he sent sexual text messages to a teenage girl.

• Blunt earns promotion to principal
PALMYRA - After a year as assistant principal at Northside Elementary School, Tracy Blunt was promoted to principal by the Palmyra Area School Board on Thursday night.

• No exit yet for graduation exams
Despite steep opposition from lawmakers and educators, Gov. Ed Rendell is still pushing a plan to make exit exams a graduation requirement for high school seniors.

• Newville votes to replace boilers in middle school
NEWVILLE - Big Spring School Board will replace boilers in the middle school and keep talking about bigger projects at elementary schools.

• Board takes step toward dismissing high school teacher
The Upper Dauphin School Board voted unanimously Thursday night to approve "dismissal charges" against an Upper Dauphin High School math teacher who had been suspended amid a state police investigation of allegations that he sent sexual text messages to a teenage girl.

• Study looks at 4 sites for elementary school
PALMYRA - Two additional sites being considered for a fourth elementary school in the Palmyra Area School District were unveiled at the school board's Thursday meeting.

• STUDENT LOANS
In a room full of parents and wide-eyed high school students searching for the perfect college, the recent gut-punch of economic news is a dreaded but necessary topic.

• Board to weigh tax change for military students
Although $15 doesn't go far, it can demonstrate respect for two young South Hanover Twp. men attending military academies, their fathers say.