PA: Central Bucks Super Gets Solid Gold Parachute

Since he was hired by them in early 2021, Superintendent Adam Lucabaugh has backed the ultra-right majority of the Central Bucks school board. Now that the winds have changed, they are set to reward his loyalty as their last act.

Central Bucks has drawn national attention for implementing a wave of conservative policies. They instituted a book banning policy, aided by the Independence Law Firm, the legal arm of the Pennsylvania Family Institute ("Our goal is for Pennsylvania to be a place where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive, and life is cherished.") They banned pride flags. They suspended a teacher who defended LGBTQ students. They implemented a policy that required the school to out LGBTQ students with a "gender identification procedure". No student name changes allowed without a note from home. Both the ACLU and the U.S. Department of Education came after the district for creating a hostile environment for LGBTQ students-- so they hired a noted anti-LGBTQ lawyer to do an internal investigation; the resulting report might not have been entirely forthcoming (but it was expensive).

And Superintendent Lucabaugh has backed them every step of the way, and they thanked it for him handsomely-- just this summer they boosted his salary from $229,500 to $315,000, making him the second highest paid superintendent in the state (behind Philly), as well as extending his contract to 2028.

Then Central Bucks became one of the school boards to see their Moms for Liberty style board majority obliterated. 

This morning Jo Ciavaglia at the Bucks County Courier Times broke the latest news-- Lucabaugh has suddenly resigned. 

It seems safe to predict that the new board will not be composed of Lucabaugh fans. But that board won't be seated until December 4. Until then, the old board is in place, and they have fashioned a solid gold parachute for their favorite superintendent. 

The proposal is a $630,000 severance package, which would mean that Lucabaugh would score over a million dollars for two years of work. Not too shabby.

But to sweeten the pot, the board is also prepared to hire him as a "consultant" to stick around till the end of November (his resignation will be effective tonight, the 14th) for another ten grand.

The nine page separation agreement spells out some details of that $630K price tag. Lucabaugh will be paid $32,105.81 for 26.5 days of unused vacation. He'll also get $30.288.50 for 25 unused sick days. If that seems sweet, well, there's more.

Lucabaugh agrees to forfeit 41 of his accumulated sick leave of 235 sick days, "saving the district $49,673.14," in exchange for which, the district will pay him $235,038.76 for the rest of the sick days. Also, pay for his unused personal and administrative emergency days.

Oh, and medical benefits for him and his family through June of 2024. 

There's a mutually agreed upon press release, which everyone agrees not to contradict, which frames this as a mutual decision to separate. It says, in part of the separation:

This will allow the new School Board, which will be seated on December 4, 2023, to select a new superintendent for the School District. It will also allow Dr. Lucabaugh to pursue other opportunities in the educational arena. 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.

I'll bet there are more than a few teachers who would love to see such a generous handling of their resignations.