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Education

September 9, 2021

ECASD Superintendent Addresses Mask Mandate Enforcement; Bed Bug Outbreak

Ellwood City Area School District’s Board of Directors passed the district’s health and safety plan Thursday evening, which included wording that the district would follow Pennsylvania State Health Department Guidelines when it comes to the pandemic. Superintendent Dr. Wesley Shipley said that he is still awaiting guidance on how to enforce the recently announced mask mandate in the district’s schools. According to Shipley, for students to be exempt from the mandate parents must provide a letter stating that their child is unable to wear a mask for medical reasons. He said at this time, the district is not requiring an…

September 9, 2021

BC3 Ranked No. 1 Community College in Pennsylvania A Sixth Time Since 2015

(Butler, PA) For the sixth time since 2015, Butler County Community College has been selected as the No. 1 community college in Pennsylvania, most recently by a third organization joining others that determine rankings after assessing institutions of higher education. Niche.com, Pittsburgh, analyzed information from the U.S. Department of Education, from the Brookings Institution and from other sources in areas such as academics, value and professors in ranking BC3 first in its 2022 Best Community Colleges in Pennsylvania report. BestColleges.com and Schools.com also analyzed information from the U.S. Department of Education in their rankings of BC3 since 2015. In its…

September 3, 2021

Riverside Beaver Co. SD Masking Order Update

The Riverside Beaver County School District has posted a masking order update from its administration on the district website this week. In the statement the district advises it will follow the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s order that all staff, students, and visitors wear a mask while indoors in any school building starting on Tuesday, September 7th. The full statement reads as follows: With the recent order imposed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, we feel it necessary  to restate the goals of the Riverside School District as we continue to navigate together through these trying times. We empathize with the…

September 2, 2021

ECASD to Enforce State’s Mask Mandate

Although the Ellwood City Area School District’s Board of Directors didn’t take any formal action Thursday evening regarding an announcement on August 31 from Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf that masks are required in schools, the district does plan to enforce the mandate. Wolf announced the secretary of health’s order mandating masks in the state for all schools and licensed child care centers. The new requirement will take effect on Tuesday, September 7 and requires students, teachers and staff to wear masks when inside school buildings. The new mandate will not apply to school sports or outdoor activities. “The science is clear. The Delta variant…

August 31, 2021

Wolf Administration Requires Masking in Schools, Early Learning and Child Care Settings

With a focus on protecting students and keeping them in classrooms, Governor Tom Wolf joined the departments of Health, Human Services and Education today to discuss the current state of COVID-19 and a new Secretary of Health order requiring masks to be worn inside K-12 school buildings, early learning programs and child care providers. The order takes effect 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. “My office has received an outpouring of messages from parents asking the administration to protect all children by requiring masks in schools,” said Gov. Wolf. “The science is clear. The Delta variant is highly transmissible and dangerous to the unvaccinated, many of whom…

August 30, 2021

Local Mom Earns Diploma Through Adult Literacy Program Aided by BC3

(New Castle, PA) Katlin Phillippi earned A’s and B’s and C’s at Lincoln High School in Ellwood City and in the health assistant program at the Lawrence County Career and Technical Center in New Castle, then dropped out in her sophomore year. She was the mother of 2-year-old daughter and her boyfriend, Trevor, the father of Sophey, had just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Trevor was temporarily confined to a wheelchair and could no longer work at his job at a Lawrence County warehouse. “I felt like I had to drop out,” Phillippi said. “I felt like it was my…

August 26, 2021

New Sunshine Act Changes Take Effect, Apply to Local Government, School Board Meetings

HARRISBURG – Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) today alerted Pennsylvanians to an upcoming change to the state’s Sunshine Act, which would increase transparency in government. The new provisions will take effect on Sunday, Aug. 29, and require public agencies, including municipalities and school districts, to post public meeting agendas at least 24 hours prior to the start of a meeting. The changes are a result of Act 65 of 2021, which was signed by Gov. Tom Wolf in June. Bernstine championed the measure in the House of Representatives. “With heated school board and local government meetings taking place across the state…

August 20, 2021

Riverside School District Receives Half a Million

Riverside School District was awarded $500,000.00 from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for redevelopment of the school’s natatorium. Riverside is one of the schools in Beaver County with a swimming pool that not only offers recreation to the students within the district, but to the public as well. Installed in 1976, the pool is in need of multiple repairs and redevelopment. Between inadequate regulation slope depth for diving, lane line anchors, cracks in the aluminum, and a need for a new air filtration system, the pool, while still functional, needs these repairs. “We are very pleased that the Department has awarded…

August 19, 2021

BC3 To Temporarily Require Face Coverings To Be Worn Indoors

(Butler, PA) Butler County Community College will temporarily require face coverings to be worn indoors at all BC3 locations because of an increase in community transmission levels of COVID-19 in the counties the college serves. The requirement applies to students, faculty, staff and visitors, regardless of vaccination status, and takes effect Aug. 19 at BC3 locations in Armstrong, Butler, Jefferson, Lawrence and Mercer counties. The college encourages, but will not require, a COVID-19 vaccination for students, faculty and staff. Students and faculty in BC3’s credit and noncredit health care programs who attend clinical experiences at health care facilities may be…

August 18, 2021

BC3 Education Foundation Golf Outing Raises Record $115K

(Butler, PA) A golf outing that raises funds for the Butler County Community College Education Foundation on Aug. 6 raised the most money in its 26-year history. The 2021 single-year record of $115,000 follows then-records of $100,000 in 2020 and of $95,000 in 2019. The outing attracted 29 teams representing six western Pennsylvania counties and was held for the 11th consecutive year at Olde Stonewall Golf Club near Ellwood City. The event since 1996 has raised more than $1.2 million in unrestricted funds to support scholarships and opportunities beyond the classroom at BC3, which has locations in Armstrong, Butler, Jefferson,…