In its last acts, Central Bucks’ GOP board votes to pay $700,000 to departing superintendent, passes trans athlete policy

The Central Bucks school board voted Tuesday to give its departing superintendent a nearly $700,000 payout, one of the Republican-controlled board’s final controversial acts before Democrats take over next month.

The separation agreement for Abram Lucabaugh — who wasn’t present during Tuesday’s meeting — drew outrage from community members, who called it “stealing” and “corruption.” The district’s chief financial officer said she didn’t yet know how the payout would affect the budget, because it was added to the board’s agenda just Monday night.

Others questioned whether it was even legal: Pennsylvania school code prohibits severance payouts to superintendents that exceed one year’s worth of salary and benefits, if the superintendent leaves two years or more before the end of the contract.

Lucabaugh was granted a new five-year contract — with a 40% raise — this past summer. His resignation was effective Tuesday night, a day after word of it was disclosed.

The district’s solicitor, Jeffrey Garton, said Tuesday that he wasn’t involved in drafting the agreement and hadn’t analyzed it to determine what was classified as “severance,” versus other payments to Lucabaugh. (Part of the agreement pays Lucabaugh $265,000 for 219 unused accumulated sick days.)

The agreement for Lucabaugh — as with other measures, it had a 6-3 vote — wasn’t the only matter the board passed Tuesday, in what one public commenter dubbed its “revenge agenda.” The board barred transgender athletes from participating on sports teams aligned with their gender identities and approved the appeal of a redistricting decision that could affect the balance of power in the district in years to come.

Board president Dana Hunter defended the payout, saying that Democrats who swept the district’s recent school board elections were likely preparing to fire Lucabaugh, and that the cost to the district would be much higher if they did.

“This is the best thing not only for our district financially, but it’s the best thing we can do for him,” Hunter said. “He has done right by us.”

Many in the crowd in the Central Bucks West High School auditorium Tuesday disagreed.

The board and Lucabaugh appear to be “very greedily trying to manage a departure that ensures his financial future at the expense of every taxpayer in this district,” said former board member Beth Darcy during a fiery public comment period. “A fortune, for quitting.”

Adriana Comprelli said the payout “felt like a slap in the face to the hardworking staff of this district,” including female teachers suing over pay equity.

Others noted Lucabaugh’s support for policies passed by Republicans on the board that attracted intense controversy, including bans on “sexualized content” in library books and the classroom display of Pride flags and other staff “advocacy.”

Directing her comments at the absent Lucabaugh, Lily Freeman, a transgender student, said: “I hope every day you think about my face and how you have utterly failed me.” Freeman called Lucabaugh a “willing participant in the nonsense” that she said had made her and other students fearful to attend school.

As part of the separation agreement, the district specified that there were “no investigations or adverse employment actions against Dr. Lucabaugh.” Another provision shields the superintendent from any legal claims in connection with his employment.

The agreement includes a lump sum payment of $315,000 — the salary Lucabaugh has received since July, when the board voted to terminate his contract early and award the new contract with a 40% raise.

In addition to the $265,000 for unused sick days, the agreement provides $32,000 for 26.5 unused vacation days, and $4,200 for 3.5 unused personal days. And it includes a $50,000 “settlement agreement” to resolve “any and all issues or potential issues or claims ... in any way arising from or connected with” Lucabaugh’s employment with the district.

That includes “allegations made by Dr. Lucabaugh of a pattern of harassment that undermined his ability to carry out the functions of his job and contributed to an environment of incivility and hostility during his tenure,” according to the agreement.

Mariam Mahmud, a Democrat on the board, called that “absolutely ridiculous,” saying she and fellow board members in the minority had endured “a ridiculous amount of lies” and harassment from Republican board members and Lucabaugh.

“It has never been about education. It has never been about the kids,” Mahmud said, calling the agreement “absolutely an outrage.” Another Democrat on the board, Tabitha Dell’Angelo, told the chief financial officer to “not cut any checks.”

A former Central Bucks assistant superintendent and principal, Lucabaugh was tapped as superintendent in 2021.

The agreement bars school board members, central office administrators, and members of the human resources department from making “any public statement regarding Dr. Lucabaugh and his performance as district superintendent that is inconsistent with or contrary to” a statement included in the agreement.

That statement reads, in part: “The School District wants to thank Dr. Lucabaugh for the extraordinary leadership he has provided through very difficult and contentious times. He always stayed above the fray and focused upon the educational mission of the School District notwithstanding other distractions that existed. The Central Bucks community has profited from his leadership and the School District hopes his successor will be able to maintain the high standards that he has established.”

The board voted to ban transgender students from competing on sports teams aligned with their gender identity — a policy Republicans have said is needed to protect girls.

The Pennridge school board passed a similar policy last month, after previously passing a policy barring transgender students from using restrooms matching their gender identities.

Parent Kate Nazemi said the board was discriminating against children. Transgender students “want the opportunity to play sports for the same reason other kids do: to be a part of a team where they feel like they belong,” Nazemi said. “We are talking about the quality of a child’s life here.”

Karen Smith, a Democrat who was reelected to the board earlier this month, indicated Democrats would look to reverse the vote.

“I look forward to revising this policy soon,” she said.

The board also voted to appeal a court decision in favor of a citizens’ group’s redistricting plan. The group, CBSD Fair Votes, had accused the GOP board majority of seeking to gerrymander the district through a redistricting plan that would favor Republicans.

The board adopted a different nine-region plan following the challenge from Fair Votes. Earlier this month, a Common Pleas court judge sided with Fair Votes — deciding that although both plans satisfied federal and state requirements, the three-region Fair Votes plan was superior for splitting fewer municipalities, and enabling residents to vote for three school board directors rather than one. (The judge, Cheryl Austin, also noted an expert’s testimony that the board’s plan would have disproportionately packed Democrats into a particular voting district.)

Smith indicated that Democrats would also revisit the board’s appeal.