News

Upper St. Clair superintendent leaving

By Sandra Fischione Donovan

2 Min Read • Sept. 16, 2006 | 20 years Ago

The superintendent who led the Upper St. Clair School District through a controversy over the district's International Baccalaureate program will leave in January to head a larger district in southeastern Pennsylvania.

The Bensalem Township School Board in Bucks County voted 8-1 Wednesday to hire Upper St. Clair Superintendent James Lombardo effective on or before Jan. 15, Bensalem board Secretary Susan Harder said. School Director Queen Sumbler dissented because she was not present for the interviews, Harder said.

The January start date allows Lombardo to give the 120 days' notice of resignation required by his Upper St. Clair contract.

Lombardo is to be paid $165,000 in his first year at Bensalem under a contract that runs until June 30, 2010. He currently earns $152,880 annually under a contract that would have expired June 30, 2008.

Efforts to reach Lombardo on Friday were unsuccessful. An Upper St. Clair spokeswoman said the superintendent was out of town and could not be reached.

Bensalem, north of Philadelphia, has about 6,000 students, compared to Upper St. Clair, which has about 4,100 students. Bensalem has six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. Upper St. Clair has three elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school.

"At this point we are negotiating a separation agreement. We're making arrangements for a smooth transition," said Dr. William Sulkowski, a dentist who is president of the Upper St. Clair School Board.

Sulkowski said he understood Lombardo accepted the Bensalem position, but had not yet tendered his resignation to Upper St. Clair. The school board could appoint a search committee as early as next week to seek a new superintendent, he said.

Sulkowski said he doubted the district's International Baccalaureate dispute had anything to do with Lombardo's decision to leave. "It's more responsibility and a bigger paycheck," he said. "I'd do it, too."

A new Republican majority on the board voted Feb. 20 to cut the Switzerland-based IB program, which is a rigorous academic program taught from a global perspective. School board members who voted to cut IB said the program was opposed to American and Judeo-Christian values, had ties to Marxist organizations and was too expensive.

About 750 students in first grade through 12th grade were enrolled in the program at the time. A group of parents filed a lawsuit in March to have the program reinstated. Fighting the suit cost the district about $200,000 before the board restored International Baccalaureate in April.

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