Centennial School Board Hiring Process Questioned

WARMINSTER TOWNSHIP, PA — While the Centennial School District fills five administrative vacancies that occurred after Schools Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh came aboard, some school board members and the public are speaking out about the hirings.

At its meeting earlier this month, the school board voted 6-2 to hire Kathleen Veisz, the former CBSD special education supervisor named in a Jamison elementary child abuse case.

The school board had already added David Bolton, a former Central Bucks administrator, as interim human resources director to help fill five administrative vacancies after Schools Superintendent Dana T. Bedden left the district.

Veisz was hired as Centennial's new assistant director of student services. She was previously placed on leave from Central Bucks for her alleged role in mishandling an abuse investigation.

Both have ties to the Central Bucks School District. Lucabaugh served there before taking a $700,000 severance payout to leave that district.

School Director Charles Martin explained the administrative hirings to Patch.

Martin said Bolton, who was retained as acting human resources director, was superintendent of the Pennridge School District for several years and had not been affiliated with Central Bucks since 2017.

Martin stated that he read a report of PA Disability Rights along with numerous news reports and concluded that Veisz "had very little to do" with the incident at Jamison Elementary and that there was no reason not to hire her.

Patch sent emails to School Director Tony Sadowski and School Board President Mary Alice Brancato, who said she was too sick at the time to comment. Sadowski did not respond.

School Director Jane Lynch, who voted against the hiring, said since the hiring was a personnel matter, she could not go into detail.

Lynch did say, though, that there hasn't been enough communication about the positions and candidates.

"I'm getting so fed up," Lynch told Patch recently. "I feel like I'm a detective."

Lucabaugh's hiring happened in a 5-4 vote and was surrounded by controversy among Centennial School Board members and the community. Lucabaugh began his tenure on July 1.

Nicole Lynch, an Upper Southampton Township resident and member of the Concerned Citizens of the Centennial School District, who fought against Lucabaugh's hiring, spoke out at the recent school board meeting.

"Ms. Veisz was implicated in the abuse allegations at Central Bucks," Lynch said. "Bringing her into Centennial will only serve to further erode any trust the community has left in you."

While Lynch said she understood that Veisz wasn't formally found responsible for the allegations, she still wondered why the Centennial School Board would take the risk.

"We are talking about physical abuse. We don't have all the information yet," she said. "This is a pretty risky gamble when the physical safety and emotional well-being of our kids is at stake."

Lynch stated to the school board that its hiring practices were once again in question.

Lucabaugh's selection was blasted by Lynch's group, parents, and several school board members, who said the selection process was weak and did not provide community and school board input. The Bucks County Intermediate Unit conducted the superintendent search.

"Can we have a discussion about who is involved in vetting resumes and doing interviews?" Lynch asked. "There continues to be a lack of transparency. The only logical conclusion to draw is that Dr. Lucabaugh is bringing in his friends and former co-workers with little to no oversight from the board."