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Thursday, July 11, 2002

By Jane Elizabeth, Post-Gazette Education Writer

For those who are fed up with the fighting between some Pittsburgh school board members and Superintendent John Thompson and might like to make a change, the law offers them very little leverage.

Contrary to what some Pennsylvania residents believe, school board members aren't subject to recall elections. Voters have to wait until the next scheduled elections to change board members.

In fact, the state school code only mentions one reason to remove a school board member -- if he or she misses two consecutive board meetings without a good excuse.

Even then, the missed meetings must be regular voting meetings, and the board member has a right to a hearing and can get a reprieve if illness or some other reason made the absences unavoidable, said Matthew Hoffman, a Downtown attorney who has represented several Pennsylvania school districts.

And the voters have no say-so in the case; the remaining board members decide if the absentee member should stay or go.

State law doesn't even provide for automatic removal of board members who are convicted of crimes. In that case, the state attorney general or district attorney must take steps to have the member removed, Hoffman said.

Depending on the language in a school superintendent's contract, saying goodbye to a top administrator can be just as difficult.

The contract for Thompson, which took effect in April 2000, allows the board to fire him -- but only with a substantial cash payment. To terminate Thompson's contract before it expires on July 1, 2005, the school board would have to pay him $350,000 or the value of his remaining salary and benefits, whichever is less.

Residents rarely have input on superintendents' contracts. In Pennsylvania, those negotiations, along with the interview and hiring process, are nearly always done in secret.

If Thompson were to be dismissed "for cause" or for serious misdeeds, no payments would be made, said Ira Weiss, who has worked as a solicitor for Pittsburgh and other school districts.

One other option under consideration is changing the makeup of the board without removing any current members.

City Councilmen Bob O'Connor and Alan Hertzberg have proposed adding four appointed members to the school board to join the nine elected members. If their plan eventually were to be approved by City Council, the state Legislature would be asked to amend state law to empower the mayor to appoint board members from a list chosen by a nominating committee.

Under the measure, the 12-person nominating commission would be made up of representatives from the city's universities, foundations, businesses and labor unions, and all nominees would be required to have a background in education or finance and to have lived in the city for at least one year.