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A New Law Closes a Major Loophole
Starting January 2026, every school in Pennsylvania has to alert parents and staff within 24 hours if someone brings a weapon onto campus.
The law sounds obvious, but until now, districts could stay completely silent about guns and knives in schools as long as no one got expelled.
Two incidents in the Lehigh Valley exposed just how broken the old system was, and the parents who found out days later made sure lawmakers heard about it.
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Schools Only Reported Expulsions
Under the old rules, Pennsylvania schools had one obligation after a weapon incident: report it to the state Department of Education. But that only happened if the student was expelled…