Right-wing school board members who were ousted from the board of Pennsylvania's Central Bucks School District are being accused of giving a golden parachute to an outgoing superintendent who was supportive of their agenda.
The Associated Press reports that the recently elected Democratic majority on the school board are trying to block a $700,000 severance payment package to superintendent Abram Lucabaugh that was rushed through shortly after the board's right-wing members, who had been backed by the local chapter of Moms for Liberty, were voted out of power.
Local attorney Brendan Flynn, who is representing the incoming Democrats, described the payout package as "egregious" in a letter warning the board not to pass the severance deal.
"The board gave Dr. Lucabaugh a 40 percent salary increase (to $315,000) in late July of this year, making him the second-highest paid school district superintendent in Pennsylvania, and is now using that increase less than four months later to calculate a severance payment," he argued.
What's more, notes the AP, the severance package contains many suspicious provisions, including one that bars "any district investigations of his tenure."
Witold “Vic” Walczak, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania who is also representing a teacher suing the district, told the AP that he was stunned by the provision barring investigations.
“It’s hard to imagine a lawyer drafted that contract,” he said. “No lawyer would think that a school board could insulate an employee from any kind of of court action or criminal investigation.”
The recently ousted Central Bucks School District board in recent years had become notorious for leaning into culture war issues that included banning books and Pride flags, among other actions.
