{"id":260473,"date":"2026-08-06T17:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T17:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/260473\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T17:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T17:36:10","slug":"whats-new-in-pennsylvania-schools-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/260473\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s new in Pennsylvania schools this year?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAugust 6, 2026 | 1:03 PM \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrom a new recess requirement to personal finance classes, Pa. students will see several changes when they return to the classroom.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Central<\/p>\n

\u00a0Brynn Anderson \/ AP Photo<\/p>\n

Central Pa. students will return to school in the next few weeks. <\/p>\n

Students across Central Pennsylvania will be heading back to school over the next few weeks. While much of the school year will look familiar, there are several statewide changes \u2013 and a few issues to watch \u2013 that could affect students and their families.<\/p>\n

Here are four changes to be aware of this year.<\/p>\n

Recess is now mandatory for K-5 students<\/p>\n

A provision in the new state budget requires schools to provide at least 30 minutes of recess every day<\/a> for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The law says that time should happen outside when possible and shouldn\u2019t involve digital devices. Notably, though, teachers can still withhold recess as a disciplinary tool.<\/p>\n

More state money for schools <\/p>\n

Pennsylvania\u2019s public schools are getting a boost in this year\u2019s $50.8 billion state budget, including $565 million in new \u201cadequacy funding\u201d to help the state\u2019s poorest district. That extra money is tied to an education spending plan the legislature created after a 2023 Commonwealth Court ruling found Pennsylvania\u2019s education funding system unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

A new personal finance requirement <\/p>\n

Starting this year, Pennsylvania high schools must offer a standalone, half-credit personal finance course as a graduation requirement. The course<\/a> will cover budgeting, saving, credit management, investing and understanding loans and interest rates. Pennsylvania becomes the 25th state to guarantee students a personal finance class before they graduate.<\/p>\n

Still no statewide cell phone ban <\/p>\n

Despite the passage of two separate, bipartisan phone ban bills \u2013 one in each chamber of the legislature \u2013 and Gov. Josh Shapiro\u2019s support, Pennsylvania did not ban cell phones in schools this year. Still, most states have bans, so expect another push this year to have classrooms free of cell phones. Many districts have already tightened restrictions<\/a> on student phone use, with some requiring phones to stay in lockers or pouches throughout the school day.<\/p>\n

\"WITF<\/p>\n

Help make trusted journalism available to everyone. Support WITF today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" August 6, 2026 | 1:03 PM From a new recess requirement to personal finance classes, Pa. students…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-260473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}