Latest news with #ReadingSchoolDistrict
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Court restores $51 million in federal funds to Reading School District
The Reading School District will receive $51 million in federal funds following a court order, the district announced Tuesday. The order reversed an earlier decision by the U.S. Department of Education to revoke the funds, putting the future of the district's Reading High School Innovation Academy in jeopardy. The facility, underway at Ninth and Douglass streets, is designed to reduce overcrowding at Reading High and expand science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, academic opportunities for students. The funds, part of the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, program, had been revoked in March. Completion of Reading High School Innovation Academy in jeopardy A preliminary injunction issued by the court requires the U.S. department to distribute the funding as originally approved. 'This is a major victory for our students, our families, and our entire community,' Dr. Jennifer Murray, district superintendent, said in a release. 'The RHS Innovation Academy project will continue to move forward without delay, and we are grateful to all who stood with us, including U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, who advocated for our district and made clear that these funds were promised and must be delivered.' The reimbursement follows a multistate lawsuit joined by Gov. Josh Shapiro and 15 other states that challenged the federal government's sudden withholding of more than $185 million owed to Pennsylvania schools. 'We just won in court to stop the (President Donald) Trump Administration's unlawful decision to revoke over $200 million for school districts and education entities across Pennsylvania and break their contract with our Commonwealth,' Shapiro posted on X May 6. 'These dollars are critical for things like student mental health programs, providing internet in schools, and installing new HVAC systems — and thanks to our victory today, the federal government can't renege on its commitments to our kids and leave Pennsylvania taxpayers holding the bag. I'll always take action to ensure Pennsylvania students have the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed.' The federal court ruling allows the state Department of Education to resume processing reimbursements. The Reading School District's request for the full $51 million has been approved. The district originally was awarded more than $104 million in federal relief funds and had spent or committed approximately $66 million to construction and HVAC improvements across the district when the U.S. Department of Education reversed its decision to extend the spending timeline. The initial deadline for expenditure of the funds was Sept. 30, with an additional 90 days to distribute all the funds, but the district was granted an extension for another 14 to 18 months to complete the project, Murray said last month at a school board meeting. With the restoration of the funding, district leaders say the STEM academy project remains on track for completion. 'We can now focus fully on completing the construction of a new school that will prepare students for the future,' said Wayne Gehris, district chief financial officer. 'This resolution ensures that the investments we've made in our children will not be lost.' Houlahan, who advocated for the district, issued the following statement: 'Congress lawfully appropriated the funds that Secretary of Education (Linda E.) McMahon tried to claw back from the Reading School District. I am heartened the courts have sided with school districts across the commonwealth to restore the funding. 'I am particularly pleased that the Reading School District recovered the funding needed to complete construction. The students and teachers deserve it and so does the city of Reading. STEM education is vital to our future and I'll continue to fight for resources our community and country needs.'
New York Times
20-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch stuck to the plan. It led to another West finals
MINNEAPOLIS — The most successful coach in Minnesota Timberwolves history almost certainly would be nowhere near his second straight trip to the Western Conference finals were it not for the pettiness of the school board in Reading, Pa., 24 years ago. Back then, Chris Finch was finishing his fourth season as a head coach in Sheffield, England, and he was looking for a way to get home. He applied to be the head coach at Reading High School, a basketball powerhouse and one of the biggest schools in Pennsylvania. Finch knew the program well. He had starred at Wilson High School, just 5 miles up the road, in the 1980s. Advertisement That turned out to be a big problem. Finch interviewed for, and was offered, the job of coaching the Red Knights, who were once coached by Princeton legend Pete Carril and boasted Donyell Marshall, Stu Jackson and Lonnie Walker IV among their famous alumni. After years of moving around and chasing various coaching jobs, Finch envisioned going back home to Pennsylvania to set down roots. It was the kind of job people take not as a stepping stone to something better, but as the job of a lifetime, chasing championships and molding young minds as the pillar in the community that raised him. 'At the time, it was my dream job,' Finch said. 'And it was kind of yanked from me due to local politics, which caught me totally by surprise.' Finch was offered the job on a Sunday. On Tuesday, his candidacy was brought to the Reading School District board for approval, normally a slam dunk. But school board members got word that Finch was from Wilson, one of Reading's biggest rivals, and rejected his candidacy. 'That was kind of a crushing blow because I was looking forward to coming back to the United States,' Finch said. Finch had been coaching the Sheffield Sharks since 1997 and wasn't sure where it was all going. As he bounced from England to Germany to Belgium, coaching teams like the Giessen 46ers and Euphony Bree, Finch was also applying to Division III coaching gigs in an effort to return home. He missed out on several opportunities but eventually coached the British National Team at the London Olympics and returned stateside with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Houston Rockets' developmental league affiliate. Now in his fifth season as head coach of the Timberwolves, Finch is often overlooked in a league with high-profile leaders like Erik Spoelstra in Miami, Doc Rivers in Milwaukee, Steve Kerr in Golden State and JJ Redick with the Los Angeles Lakers. He may not be as well-known to the casual NBA fan, but in a franchise that has employed 16 coaches in 36 years, Finch has done with the Timberwolves what was once believed to be impossible — he has turned them into a legitimate contender. Before Finch's arrival halfway through the 2020-21 season, the Wolves had made the playoffs one time in the previous 16 seasons. They have qualified in all four full seasons Finch has been on the job. In the 31 years before Finch, the Wolves had an NBA-worst .396 winning percentage and made it out of the first round of the playoffs once, when they advanced to the Western Conference finals in 2004. Under Finch, the Wolves have won 56.6 percent of their games — eighth-best in the league over that span. When they tip off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 on Tuesday, they will be playing in their second straight conference finals. Advertisement 'I've been in this stuff 27 years and been around a lot of great coaches,' Wolves lead assistant Micah Nori said. 'But especially at the offensive end, he's by far and away just the best I've ever seen.' Getting back to this stage is an incredible feat, especially given the franchise's history and the ground-shaking trade it made right before training camp opened when Minnesota sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. The Wolves heard boos in their own arena early in the season when they started 8-10 amid expectations that they would contend for a championship. Finch faced fan criticism for sticking with starters Mike Conley and Randle and not deviating from an eight-man rotation to give young players like Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. more run. Five months later, Conley has delivered major moments in the first two playoff series, Randle has been nothing short of dominant and the Timberwolves enter their series against the heavily favored Thunder with unshakeable confidence that they can advance to the organization's first NBA Finals. Finch never panicked in a season of trial, even as he struggled into January to identify the right buttons to push with this team. In the end, he doubled down on what he believed in the face of outside resistance, leaned on the toughness he honed as a defensive specialist in college at Division III Franklin & Marshall and was validated every step of the way. 'The validation I feel is for what we're doing overall as a program,' Finch said. His players swear by him, lauding his fearlessness in holding everyone accountable, from Anthony Edwards at the top of the roster to the two-way players just barely holding on. His assistants marvel at his ability to adapt to what he has at his disposal and yet still stubbornly adhere to his core beliefs, no matter how much outside noise there is calling for change. Advertisement He is both intense and even-keeled, exacting and empowering, a coach who can call a rage timeout and yank a player for getting back-cut on defense while also displaying the empathy to start a seldom-used bench player because his autistic son was watching in the stands. The Timberwolves are following Finch into this fight because they know their coach will be swinging just as hard as anyone. 'He challenges every single guy,' Conley said. 'Nobody's exempt from that. Guys respond.' The Timberwolves were reeling in the winter of 2021, nearly nightly losers with a 7-24 record and no real sense of direction. Former President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas fired coach Ryan Saunders, then drew heat for a highly unusual decision to replace him in-season with an outside candidate. Finch was an assistant coach in Toronto when he was hired but was close with Rosas from their days together with Rio Grande in the G League. In 10 seasons as an NBA assistant, Finch had forged a reputation for being an offensive guru. Almost every team he landed on made a huge jump in offensive efficiency in his first season, including the Rockets going from 16th to fourth, the Denver Nuggets going from 17th to fourth and the Wolves leaping from 24th to seventh. Finch is a thinking man's coach, in constant pursuit of his idea of basketball nirvana — a free-flowing game in which the players read and react quickly and instinctively to what is happening in front of them, eschewing the heavy-handed playcalling and simple-minded pick-and-roll dominance that is so prevalent in the league today. That can lead to mistakes, clunkiness and long scoring droughts, especially for young players like Edwards, who is still learning how to see the game three steps ahead. Early this season, it led to calls to bench or trade Randle because it took a while for him to get used to playing with Rudy Gobert in the frontcourt. It led to proclamations that the trade with the Knicks was a failure because Towns was lighting it up in New York and DiVincenzo couldn't buy a 3-pointer. Finch heard the clamoring for him to shut down the 37-year-old Conley and put Dillingham in at point guard to get him ready for the future. He heard the suggestions that Naz Reid should start over Randle. He heard that he was being foolish for continuing to put the ball in Edwards' hands during crunchtime, only to see him miss another contested stepback jumper. If he bristled, it was done privately. He backed Randle and Conley to the hilt. He kept running the late-game offense through Edwards to get him the reps he needed and doubled down on the free-flowing offensive system that he believes is what the team needs to thrive. Finch thought much of the angst was unfair because it was measuring a far different team against the backdrop of last year's thrilling, and unexpected, run to the West finals. Advertisement 'Often times the people who do track the narrative around a team, or around an individual or performance, are often the people that mentally can't handle it anyway,' Finch said. 'The people that could mentally handle the criticism most likely aren't listening to it anyway. I always found that an irony.' That is not to say that Finch is always a cool customer. He has been known to read his team the riot act in film sessions, as he did after a loss to the Utah Jazz on Feb. 28. 'He chose violence,' Nickeil Alexander-Walker said. Anyone can get it when Finch's ire is up, especially Edwards, the superstar whom Finch often credits with allowing him to be coached hard. When Finch gets after Edwards, Randle or Gobert, the three big-money veterans, it sets the tone for the rest of the team. 'He don't sugarcoat anything,' Edwards said. 'So that's good for us.' Finch was an admirer of Bobby Knight in his younger days, but he is far from that kind of taskmaster. He has an open-door policy with his players and will often be seen grabbing a seat with one of them after a morning shootaround and talking about what the player needs on the court. But the confrontational side of him hearkens back to his college days as the vocal leader at Franklin & Marshall, when he would challenge his teammates in the locker room if they weren't doing their jobs. 'Everybody liked Chris, but he was a fierce competitor and there was no question that he wasn't worried about your friendship if a game was on the line,' retired Franklin & Marshall coaching legend Glenn Robinson told The Athletic in 2021. 'He was gonna tell you exactly like it was, and you had to hold up your end of the bargain or you were gonna hear about it.' Finch is not lifting any of his Timberwolves players off the ground to get his point across like he may have done back in the day, but his tone resonates with a group that welcomes a challenge. 'Everyone gets it at some point in time,' Alexander-Walker said. 'But then it's all right, I'm gonna still rock with you, and I trust you to go out there.' Advertisement He knows that he can only go all fire and brimstone every once in a while. Playing that note too often in the NBA will get a coach tuned out in a hurry. But Finch puts himself in a position to go that route by building trust with his players the whole season. He gives players wide latitude on offense to play the game in front of them, encouraging struggling shooters to let it fly, understanding that turnovers are going to happen in a 48-minute game and letting youngsters like Edwards, Reid and Jaden McDaniels make mistakes. He earned more goodwill in late March when he put veteran Joe Ingles in the starting lineup because his young son, who struggles with autism and is living in the family's year-round home in Orlando while his father plays for the Wolves, had a breakthrough and was able to attend a game. Randle has been one of the breakout performers of this postseason because Finch backed him the whole way, even with his previous struggles in the playoffs. 'Having a coach not only believe in you but challenge you every single day, when I came to Minnesota, that was the No. 1 thing I was excited about,' said Randle, who also played for Finch when he was an assistant in New Orleans. 'Being able to play for Finchy because I just knew the type of coach he was, the belief he had in me.' Finch won his 200th career game this season and already has more playoff victories (20) than the entire franchise had before he was hired (18). But this season has not been easy for him. His gears were grinding through the first three months of the season while he struggled to find the right lineup combinations and help everyone move from a KAT-Gobert twin-towers frontcourt as their identity to a deeper and more versatile roster with Randle and DiVincenzo now on the team. It took a blunt conversation with Timberwolves GM Matt Lloyd in January to help Finch find his way through the early slog. Lloyd is one of the most unflinchingly positive employees in the building, and he was sitting in Finch's office and watching the coach pull his hair out over the team's inconsistency. Advertisement 'It seemed like he was just real frustrated with where things were going and in the time that it was taking,' Lloyd said. 'He was really locked in on trying to make it work. And I just felt he was putting a lot of pressure on himself.' Lloyd told Finch that he had to draw on his days in Europe, when he led ever-changing rosters with distractions galore. He told Finch that everything would work out in time, that there was too much talent on the roster and the coaching staff for it to fall flat. 'He just thought maybe I was coaching a little bit too rigid and too tight,' Finch said. 'And he was right. I thought about it, and I was hard driving at the time. I needed to back off a bit, but I also needed to let some ideas flow.' For a brief moment this season, Finch relaxed the rotation, giving Shannon, Dillingham and Jaylen Clark some minutes. The Wolves won eight of 10 games between Jan. 22 and Feb. 8 to regain their footing in the conference and start to build toward a playoff run. Lloyd's perspective helped Finch relax ever so slightly, positioning the Wolves to finish the season 17-4, which got them out of the Play-In Tournament. 'We knew eventually he'd figure it out and, if anything, I was just trying to reassure him that everyone knew that it was gonna come together at some point,' Lloyd said. 'He was going to figure out how to get it done the right way.' Finch's strict adherence to an eight-man rotation may have stunted the growth of youngsters like Dillingham, Shannon and Josh Minott. There were times during the season when the Wolves may have benefited from someone other than Edwards controlling things late in close games, which led to a 20-26 record in clutch-time situations. But it is hard to argue with the results. The Wolves finished in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating, have gone 8-2 in the playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors and have watched this eight-man rotation find its rhythm at the exact right time. Advertisement 'I hate to say it, but he almost just sees things and where they're headed if we just stick to the process,' Nori said. 'He's very, very intelligent. The experience that he's had, if he does something, he's gonna see it through. He has a reason for it, he has a plan for it and usually, if you stick to the plan, it ends up working out as opposed to just scrapping something and starting anew.' When Finch thinks back to the 4-1 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the West finals last year, his mood turns somber. The Wolves had chances to win the first two games at home but couldn't close them, which proved devastating in the series. Finch still thinks about it through gritted teeth. 'What motivates me about the Dallas series more than anything was that we probably got the game plan a bit wrong,' Finch said. He said he regrets their defensive approach against Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving and the Mavericks and thinks it burned them enough early in the series that they couldn't recover. 'It might have been the wrong thing initially. And then when we pivoted, we had a hard time executing what we needed to do,' Finch said. 'It felt like we were zigging and should have been zagging through that whole series.' Most of the players said after the series that they were out of gas, that the emotional high of beating the defending champion Denver Nuggets on their home floor in Game 7 of the second round took everything they had. The quick turnaround for Game 1 of the conference finals did not allow enough time to refill the tanks. Finch felt it as well. He suffered a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee in the first round win over the Phoenix Suns and spent the rest of the playoffs sitting in the second row behind the bench, his leg propped up and throbbing with pain. Finch declined the painkillers prescribed by doctors. Advertisement 'I wouldn't take the painkillers because I didn't want to become dependent on them,' Finch said. 'And I didn't want to feel during the games that I had any clouded thought processes.' Nori couldn't believe it. 'God bless him,' Nori said. 'I mean, I would have taken the painkillers. Shoot, knowing his mind, they probably would have come up with some good offensive actions, and he would have been on some stuff.' Everyone can laugh now, but Finch said one of the main emotions he felt after being eliminated was that it was 'a mercy killing for me' because he was in so much pain. 'I was not happy that it was over,' Finch said. 'It was just that I had been through a lot at that stage. … I think that's one thing we learned as a team is what it takes just to go halfway.' This year's run-up to the conference finals has been markedly different. The Wolves blew past the Lakers and the Steph Curry-less Warriors in the first two rounds and got a five-day break before facing the Thunder. They look like a team that is more ready for this moment, and they will have to be. Oklahoma City won an NBA-best 68 games during the regular season. This time around, Finch walks into this series with no pain in his knee and a fresh perspective on 'the trials and tribulations' this team has endured to make it this far. 'There were times I was probably putting too much pressure on this year's team because of last year,' Finch said. 'Because we wanted to validate ourselves as a legitimate, top-end program.' Two straight trips to the conference finals can bring a whole lot of validation. For a franchise that has never really been in a conversation like this before. And for a coach who could be preparing for his 25th season in charge of the Reading High Red Knights — if only he wasn't from the wrong side of the tracks. — The Athletic's James Jackson contributed.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Completion of Reading High School Innovation Academy in jeopardy
Completion of the new Reading High School Innovation Academy is in jeopardy, the Reading School District announced. The U.S. Department of Education in March revoked more than $51 million in previously approved federal funds designated for the project, the district said in a news release, noting the significant funding gap could delay or jeopardize construction of the academy. 'It has been recommended that we stop progress on the Innovation Academy,' Dr. Jennifer Murray, district superintendent said Wednesday at the school board's voting meeting. The new facility, underway at Ninth and Douglass streets, is designed to reduce overcrowding at Reading High and expand science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, academic opportunities for students. 'Our community has made tremendous progress, and this facility is critical to continuing that upward trajectory,' Murray said in a statement. 'To lose these funds now would not only harm our students, but it would also reverse years of work to provide them with the opportunities they deserve.' The district is working with its solicitor, the state Department of Education, state and federal legislators, representatives of Gov. Josh Shapiro's office and others, Murray said. 'Anybody who will listen to us,' she noted. 'We are waiting for guidance.' Earlier this month, Gov. Shapiro joined a multistate lawsuit with 15 other states and the District of Columbia challenging the Trump Administration's decision to abruptly revoke $185 million in funding owed to Pennsylvania, much of which the U.S. Department of Education had already approved for distribution. These funds include $183.6 million owed to 116 Pennsylvania school districts, charter schools, intermediate units and career and technical centers, and $1.8 million owed to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, according to the state website. Last week, local and state leaders, including U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan and state Sen. Judy Schwank, toured the partly built academy to observe construction progress and meet with district leaders. Houlahan praised the facility's potential but expressed concern about the loss of federal support, the district said. 'Let me be clear: our government must stand by its word,' Houlahan said in a statement. 'These federal funds, secured by the American Rescue Plan Act that I proudly voted for in 2021 and duly appropriated by Congress, must be distributed as promised. For President Trump and his administration to claw back Congressionally approved and appropriated funding is illegal.' Houlahan said she fully supports Gov. Shapiro's lawsuit to challenge this decision in court. 'If these funds are not delivered as promised, the people of Reading will suffer financial consequences and that's not right,' Houlahan said. The students of Reading want and deserve a high school to prepare them for the competitive jobs of the 21st century, she said. 'That's exactly what they will gain with a STEM education,' Houlahan said. 'There's nothing efficient about a halfway built school. The Trump administration's decision is absolutely punitive and foolish.' The district was originally awarded more than $104 million in American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ARP ESSER, funds. Of that, approximately $77 million has been spent or committed to the academy and other construction projects, including heating, ventilating and air conditioning improvements across the district. The initial deadline for expenditure of the funds was September 30, 2024, with additional 90 days to distribute all the funds, but the district was granted an extension for another 14 to 18 months to complete the project, Murray said Wednesday at a meeting of the school board. The extension was needed primarily due to the unexpected discovery of bedrock that required blasting at the academy site, she said, and post pandemic issues with obtaining adequate building supplies. U.S. D.E.P. has now reversed its earlier decision on the extension, citing regulatory timelines and a shift in federal priorities post-pandemic. As a result, Murray said, the district risks losing more than $51 million in total. This includes $23.8 million already spent but not yet reimbursed, and another $27.5 million in pending obligations. 'We followed every guideline and were granted an extension that aligned with our project timeline,' said Wayne Gehris, district chief financial officer. 'Now we've told those funds are no longer available. This puts the future of the Innovation Academy in question and creates a financial challenge we haven't seen in more than a decade.' Despite the challenge, district leaders say they are committed to exploring every available option to close the funding gap. The district said it is also evaluating potential legal options. 'Our students deserve access to state-of-the-art learning environments, just like students in other communities,' said Gehris. 'We're doing everything we can to ensure this building is completed.' For updates on the RHS Innovation Academy project, visit
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Reading School District invests $110 million in facility upgrades
The Reading School District is continuing a long-term project to enhance the learning environments of its 18,100 students, the district has announced. Since the start of the 2020-21 school year, the district has invested more than $110 million in facility upgrades. The recent upgrades, largely funded by federal COVID-19 relief funds, have prioritized critical improvements to HVAC systems, security and overall facility modernization, the district said in a release. 'These improvements are part of our ongoing commitment to providing safe and high-quality learning environments for our students and staff,' Dr. Jennifer Murray, superintendent, said in a statement. 'We are grateful for the federal funds that helped make this possible, and we look forward to continuing this work in the years ahead.' A districtwide facilities study will guide future capital planning to ensure infrastructure needs continue to be addressed, the district said. The district's 23 buildings — including 13 elementary schools, five middle schools, one high school, additional satellite high schools, and a virtual academy — range in age and condition. The oldest school, Central Middle School, a former hospital building, was built in 1873, while the newest, Millmont Elementary School, was completed in 2007. Many of the district's older buildings have required significant updates in recent years, the district said. At Reading High School, built in 1925, more than $33.2 million has been invested in renovations, including improvements to the Geigle gymnasium, Castle Café, and senior café. Other updates include a new turf field, softball dugouts, renovated bathrooms, and ongoing improvements to mechanical systems throughout the building. Planned projects at the high school include renovations to the auditorium, locker rooms, and the addition of a secure entryway. Updates at the middle schools include more than $12.6 million at Northwest Middle School, where a new HVAC system, roof replacement and renovated auditorium were completed. Many of the middle schools have received HVAC upgrades, weapon scanners, additional classrooms and water bottle filling stations. Planned improvements include elevator and boiler replacements, and a new flexible space at Central Middle School that can convert from a gymnasium to an auditorium; auditorium renovations at Northeast Middle School; replacing the cafeteria floor and improving stairwell handrails at Southern Middle School; and roof and public-address system upgrades at Southwest Middle School. At the elementary level, Glenside Elementary School has seen nearly $8.1 million in improvements, including a new high-efficiency boiler, ADA-compliant elevator, renovated gymnasium, secure entryway and updated bathrooms. Other elementary schools have received similar upgrades, such as repaving playgrounds, replacing outdated HVAC systems, new water bottle filling stations and enhanced security with updated entryways and lighting. Future projects at elementary schools include expanding classroom and cafeteria spaces, improving HVAC systems, adding more ADA features and modernizing lighting, flooring and playgrounds. 'Renovating and upgrading facilities in a large district like ours is an ongoing effort,' said Wayne Gehris, district chief financial officer. 'We're committed to preserving the history of our buildings while making the necessary improvements to provide safe, modern learning environments for our students and staff, both now and in the future.' With COVID relief funds expiring, the district said it will prioritize essential facility upgrades moving forward.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education tapped to lead Reading School District
READING, Pa. (WHTM) — Call it a homecoming. Former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Khalid Mumin is returning to a position he'd held for seven years. Earlier this week, the Reading School District announced his appointment as superintendent of the largest school district in Berks County. He served in that position from 2014 through 2021 and reassumes the post on July 1, 2025. He succeeds Dr. Jennifer Murray, who will step down on June 13. 'I am elated to return to the Red Knight family, as we continue our great work with passion and purpose to prepare our students for infinite possibilities of success', said Mumin. 'The Board of Directors is excited to welcome Dr. Mumin back to Reading,' said Dr. Noahleen Betts, Board President. 'There will be a seamless transition as Dr. Mumin continues the progress made by my fellow Board Members, Dr. Murray and her Administration over the last three and a half years. We thank Dr. Murray for leading the District and wish her the best in her future endeavors.' Mumin holds a Doctor of Education in educational leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Education in Teaching & Curriculum from Pennsylvania State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary English Education from Shippensburg University. Download the abc27 News+ app on your Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and Apple TV devices Mumin served as Secretary of Education in the Shapiro administration from January 2023 until December 2024. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
