The Mt. Lebanon school board started formal conversations with Superintendent Margery Sable about philosophical differences as early as February, but the two sides realized a parting was imminent as early as this summer, a year after she took over, board President Carol Walton said at Monday night's school board meeting.

The two sides formally reached a separation agreement Nov. 1 and the board approved that agreement Nov. 8, calling for Sable's resignation and a more than $500,000 buyout. Sable worked for the district a little less than a year and a half.

That buyout has caused a firestorm in the community, and about 50 people continued to question it at Monday's meeting. Earlier sessions had attracted hundreds.

Jim Menagazzi, of Mt. Lebanon, asked if Sable had been evaluated regularly. Walton said she had been, but that those evaluations were part of Sable's personnel file and not public documents.

Others wondered if Sable had been insubordinate and if that was grounds for termination.

Walton and solicitor Tom Peterson did not answer if she had been insubordinate, but they said the school code governs when employees can be fired. Superintendents can be fired only for "neglect of duty, incompetency, intemperance or immorality." Peterson said a board may fire a superintendent for insubordination and contend that it falls under neglect of duty, but that if the employee sues, the court would have to decide if the acts met the criteria of the school code.

"The mere fact of not following orders may not be held up as grounds for termination," Walton said.

The Pennsylvania auditor general's office will audit the separation agreement as part of a routine audit of the Mt. Lebanon schools, office spokeswoman Elizabeth Kupchinsky said. It is not its own investigation, she said. The idea to take a look at the separation agreement came from Auditor General-elect Jack Wagner, who takes office Jan. 18.

While separations are "more or less board decisions," Kupchinsky said, the office will still make sure the agreement conforms to the terms of Sable's original employment contract and that all procedures, such as public votes, were done properly.

Walton said the board intended to continue programs instituted under Sable, including the Writer's Workshop writing program.

Walton said Peterson did not work on the separation agreement but that the board used lawyer Fred Wolfe, of the firm Springer Bush and Perry.

After her announcements, several people protested the reappointment of Peterson as solicitor for 2005, his 10th year with the district, but board members reiterated that he had nothing to do with the separation agreement. Peterson did consult the district on Sable's original employment contract, which upset some of those in attendance because the contract did not include severance language.

The board unanimously reappointed Peterson as solicitor for a $12,000 annual retainer and $100 to $120 per hour for additional services. Board member Ron Hoffman was absent for the vote.

The board also heard plans for a new natatorium on Horsman Drive. The center would include a 25-yard by 25-meter pool in 18,000 square feet with bleacher seating for 200. The pool would have 10 8-foot swimming lanes. The base cost would be $4,966,000 with three additional options.

Board member Sue Rose asked to talk about how the district would pay for the pool. The subject will be placed on the board's Jan. 10 discussion agenda.