Andrew King, the Pittsburgh Public Schools administrator who salvaged his career after a well-publicized arrest in 1999 and later sued the district for passing him over for the superintendent's job, will retire Saturday.

The school board last night approved Dr. King's retirement as part of a settlement of a lawsuit and related complaints that he had filed with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Under the terms of the settlement, Dr. King will be paid $390,000.

Dr. King, who has been with the district 34 years, is retiring one year earlier than he otherwise would have.

School district Solicitor Ira Weiss emphasized that the settlement is only $75,000 more than the district would have paid Dr. King next year in salary and in compensation for unused sick days and vacation days.

Dr. King's base salary was about $125,000. Mr. Weiss said Dr. King is at least 55 but did not know his exact age.

Neither Dr. King nor his attorney, Avrum Levicoff, could be reached for comment.

Mr. Weiss advised board members to say little about the matter in public.

In a statement, board President Bill Isler said, "We appreciate Dr. King's years of service to the city's schools and wish him all the best."

Dr. King joined the district in 1974 and worked as a teacher, principal, supervising principal, acting associate director of staff development and regional assistant superintendent before his 1999 run-in with police.

Officers said they caught Dr. King having sex with a homeless woman in a van near a Hill District school. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was demoted, but he salvaged his career, working his way up the ladder to chief academic officer in 2003.

When the school board and Superintendent John Thompson parted company in January 2005, Dr. King agreed to serve as interim school chief. He also was one of 36 who applied for the permanent position.

As interim superintendent, Dr. King quickly made waves by firing or demoting a number of top administrators and by introducing a pilot math program without consulting the district's top math and science officer. Some board members looked beyond the controversy to see a loyal employee.

"You knew he was telling you the truth, you knew he was telling you the straight story," member Daniel Romaniello Sr. said in 2005. "You knew he would never betray the district and you knew he would never get you in trouble, either."

In the end, the board looked outside the district for help navigating severe academic and financial problems, tapping as superintendent Mark Roosevelt, a former Massachusetts lawmaker with no experience running a school district.

Dr. King, saying he was more qualified, sued the school district in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. He also filed complaints with the Human Relations Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Dr. King, who is black, alleged discrimination and the use of secret, subjective criteria to exclude him from the superintendent's job, even though Helen Faison, a former superintendent who helped lead the search, also is black.

After Mr. Roosevelt's arrival in August 2005, the board named Dr. King assistant to the superintendent for compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Dr. King called the change an illegal demotion, though it involved no loss of salary.

Mr. Weiss last night said the district acknowledged no wrongdoing in the settlement, and board member Mark Brentley Sr. said he was disappointed that the public will not have an opportunity to find out whether Dr. King's allegations had merit.

Dr. King has maintained a relatively low profile since Mr. Roosevelt's arrival. He did not attend last night's school board meeting.