Centennial hires Abram Lucabaugh as superintendent. The vote wasn’t unanimous

A divided Centennial School Board voted Tuesday night to hire former Central Bucks Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh as the district’s next educational leader.

The 5-4 roll call vote, which crossed political lines, was immediately followed by loud boos, promises to vote out board members and catcalls.

“You should be ashamed,” one woman yelled.

Voting to hire Lucabaugh, 52, were board members Mary Alice Brancato, Flemming Godiken, Mark Gindhart, Michael Hartline and Kathleen Maguire.

The three-year contract includes a starting salary of $225,000 with a minimum of 3% salary increases annually depending on the outcome of an annual performance evaluation.  The contract would automatically renew, until the board or Lucabaugh opts to end it.

Voting against hiring Lucabaugh were Jane Lynch, Patti Crosson, Tony Sadowski and Charley Martin.

Before public comment Lynch made a plea for Lucabaugh to withdraw his candidacy for the good of the school district calling his candidacy a lighting rod for controversy.

“This is too much. We are a good community,” Lynch said. “We are a good school district. We do not need all this diversion from a superintendent.”

The request drew loud cheers and applause from the audience of at least 150 people at Log College Middle School, where the meeting was moved in anticipation of a large crowd.

Board president Brancato clapped back telling the crowd that they are not the Central Bucks School District.

“We are Centennial and we already know that,” she said. “Take it for whatever you feel. This is the place we all live and this is the place we all love.”

Centennial residents continue to question board’s motives for ignoring community opposition to Lucabaugh

All but one of the 18 audience members who spoke Tuesday night again urged the board to reject Lucabaugh, repeating the sentiments expressed at a meeting earlier this month that drew at least 100 people, where most opposed hiring Lucabaugh.

One man who spoke Tuesday blamed the media for the controversy surrounding Lucabaugh.

Lucabaugh’s critics repeated their frustrations over a lack of transparency and community input on the candidate search process and his previous tenure and sudden, expensive departure from neighboring Central Bucks School District.

“A ‘yes’ vote tonight tells us that you choose to ignore our voices and serve your own agenda,” Upper Southampton resident Nicole Lynch said.

Other residents told the school board that they felt the board’s actions with hiring Lucabaugh were suspect.

“A lot of us are not feeling trust in the room,” Warminster resident Tom Quinn said. “I think we are feeling there are ulterior motives.”

Residents called Lucabaugh’s responses to pre-screened questions at a public forum last week rehearsed, bland, vague and disingenuous.

“He’ll tell you whatever he has to get the job,” a Warminster woman said.

They also criticized how Lucabaugh repeatedly distanced himself from his time in the Central Bucks School District, where he worked for years as a teacher, principal and his final three years there as superintendent.

But his attempt to push blame for the divisive culture wars that bitterly divided the community onto the former GOP-majority school board left some residents feeling he was downplaying his vocal support and enforcement of the board’s conservative agenda.

Lucabaugh now says he no longer supports policies including restricting library materials based solely on sexual content and nudity, trans-athlete bans, and partisan classroom displays, most notably gay pride flags.

Those policies resulted in more than $1 million in legal costs  and settlements and a string of federal education investigations involving discrimination allegations, another big concern among Centennial residents who opposed his hiring.

Residents also questioned why, if Lucabaugh did not champion those policies in Central Bucks, did he not advise the school board against adopting them?

“His words and actions speak louder,” Warminster resident Tina Carins said.

Several residents also questioned why Lucabaugh resigned before the new Democratic-majority was sworn in, if he did not agree with the previous board.

“If he was so revolted by Central Bucks school board policies, why would he quit when the new school board took over? Warminster resident Michael Binder said. “In what world does that make sense.”

Others expressed concerns Lucabaugh might cut-and-run again if the current GOP-majority board is voted out in November. Four seats are up for grabs, and three incumbents seeking reelection — Brancato, Godiksen and Ginghart — voted to hire Lucabaugh.

“He just walked out and left,” Warminster resident Neil Miller said. “The question is, is he going to do this again?”

Nancy Pontius, spokeswoman for the parent-led “Concerns Citizens of Centennial,” added that she felt Lucabaugh scapegoating the Central Bucks school board was “unprofessional and irresponsible.”

“If I was a school board member that would be a huge red flag for me that he’d throw me under the bus,” she said.

The Concerned Citizens of Centennial will be closely watching Lucabaugh, the board and what policies and decisions they propose, Pontius said.

“We need to continue to be paying attention very closely,” she added. “We already have the blueprint from Central Bucks.”

Reporting by Jo Ciavaglia, Bucks County Courier Times / Bucks County Courier Times