Bellefonte school board defends expulsion, holiday weekend travel: Top stories

Centre County saw a busy news day Wednesday, with developments spanning education, an unsolved homicide case, election turnout and holiday travel. Here’s a roundup of the top stories we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss.

Here are key takeaways:

• The Bellefonte Area High School board released a four-page statement defending its unanimous decision to expel a senior weeks before graduation for bringing a small knife on a school-sponsored trip to the Centre County Courthouse. The statement comes after more than 4,000 people signed an online petition supporting the student. The board said it has accepted the hearing examiner’s recommendation in every case since 2021, often recommending sanctions “far less” than the one-year mandatory expulsion requirement.
• The Bellefonte Area School District will host farewell open houses on May 21 and June 1 at Bellefonte and Benner elementary schools before they close at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. A new $55.3 million Bellefonte Elementary School with capacity for roughly 750 students is under construction and will replace the two closing schools.
• Centre County Judge Julia Rater denied public access to the autopsy report of Dana J. Bailey, a 21-year-old Penn State senior who was found fatally stabbed in her South Allen Street apartment in March 1987. The ruling came after the state Office of Open Records determined in April that the county was required to provide the report to author Derek Sherwood, who is seeking answers in the nearly four-decade-old unsolved case.
• Just over 24% of Centre County’s Democrats and Republicans voted in Tuesday’s primary election, with about 28% of Democrats casting ballots compared to about 20% of Republicans. Democrats had no competitive contests except for some precinct committee positions, while Republicans had choices for lieutenant governor and county party chair.
• PennDOT projects a 2% increase in travelers on the Pennsylvania Turnpike this Memorial Day weekend compared to last year, totaling 2.18 million motorists, and will suspend all construction work impacting open lanes from 3 p.m. Thursday through 11 p.m. Monday. Friday is expected to be the most congested day, with 33% more travelers than the next-busiest day of the four-day weekend.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.