Central Bucks to vote on $600K severance for Lucabaugh tonight, what you need to know

Update: Central Bucks School District has announced a venue change for tonight's school board meeting. The meeting will now take place in the auditorium of Central Bucks High School West at 375 W. Court St. in Doylestown. The meeting begins at 7 p.m.

In a surpising last-minute addition, tonight's board meeting for the Central Bucks School District includes the resignation of it's top administrator, Abram Lucabaugh.

A severance agreement between Lucabaugh and Central Bucks appeared on the agenda sometime in the early evening Monday, several hours after the initial meeting lineup had been posted online that morning.

UPDATE: Central Bucks OKs superintendent $700K severance; gives him $10K consulting job

Here's everything you need to know about Lucabaugh's contract and tenure for tonight's meeting:

Lucabaugh leaving Central Bucks: Central Bucks superintendent resigns.Board to vote on $600K+ severance package Tuesday

Did Abram Lucabaugh quit?

The school board is going to vote Tuesday night on a "separation agreement and release" form that was included in the board agenda.

If the board votes approves it, Lucabaugh will no longer be the head administrator of Central Bucks as of 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday.

The agreement does not refer to his departure as a "resignation," however, and a public statement included with the agreement describes the situation as a mutual decision by the district and Lucabaugh.

“The Central Bucks School District and Dr. Lucabaugh have agreed to exercise the paragraph of his Employment Contract regarding Employment Agreement Renewal or Termination that permits the Parties to agree mutually on separation of Dr. Lucabaugh as Superintendent of Central Bucks School District," the agreement says.

By all official documents available right now, this is a mutual employment separation, which triggers the severance agreement.

What will it cost the Central Bucks School District?

Lucabaugh's severance pay, which includes payout for unused sick and vacation time, in total is about $630,000, with about $315,000 in a lump sum payment for one year's salary.

Lucabaugh had an estimated 235 days of unused sick time under his current contract. He agreed to forfeit 41 days, or $49,673, in exchange for being reimbursed the remaining 194 days at $235,038.

The district will also pay $32,105 for unused vacation time and the district is offering Lucabaugh $50,000 as an incentive to sign the agreement.

The agreement stipulates that Lucabaugh agrees not to sue the district over his employment contract as well.

When is Lucabaugh's last day?

The separation agreement will make Tuesday Lucabaugh's last day as the superintendent. Central Bucks Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education Charles Malone is expected to take over as the interim superintendent in the short term.

Could Lucabaugh make more money from Central Bucks in addition to his severance?

Yes. While he won't be a full-time employee, Lucabaugh is going to be available as a consultant to Malone for a retainer fee of $10,000 covering a period ending Nov. 30. That retainer is a separate fee from the total included in Lucabaugh's severance agreement.

If the district should need Lucabaugh's consultation beyond that, he will be paid $1,000 per day and $500 per half-day. The district will have to pay at least a half-day rate at minimum if he is consulted.

"This will include days at which he is requested to attend court hearings or days of preparation for court and/or administrative hearings or days to review documents/transcripts to prepare for hearings or days to respond to a subpoena," a separate consultation agreement states.

Didn't Central Bucks just approve a raise?

Yes, the current school board voted in July to approve a new contract for Lucabaugh that included a $90,000 salary hike.

Lucabaugh was officially hired to replace former head administrator John Kopicki in August 2021 at $225,000 with a performance-based raise of at least 2% for the first two years of that five-year contract.

More: Central Bucks considers $90K raise for Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh. Here's the new salary

In a 6-3 vote on July 25, the board approved a new five-year, $315,000 contract, making Lucabaugh one of the highest paid superintendents in Pennsylvania.

Board President Dana Hunter, Vice President Leigh Vlasblom and members Debra Cannon, Sharon Collopy, Jim Pepper, and Lisa Sciscio voted in favor of the raise, some citing an apparent risk of losing Lucabaugh to other districts.

Board members Karen Smith, Tabitha Dell’Angelo and Dr. Mariam Mahmud opposed, saying they were left out of any meaningful discussion prior to the vote and the raise came after a “difficult” budget process that ended in a 2.75% property tax increase last month.

More: 'I'm coming for you': Central Bucks superintendent comment sounds like threat to some

Is Lucabaugh leaving due to the election?

Based on the joint public statement in the separation agreement, Lucabaugh's departure does seem to be due in part to the new Democrat majority coming in next month.

"This will allow the new School Board, which will be seated on Dec. 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 statement says.

The July vote to approve Lucabaugh's raise basically describes the temperature of his relationship with the Republicans and the Democrats on the board.

More: Here are the priorities for newly elected Democrats in Central Bucks and Pennridge

Lucabaugh and Hunter have oftened teamed up in public statements to defend past controversial policies, such as the library policy passed in July 2022 that drew concerns that it would open the door to widespread book banning.

Hunter lost her re-election bid to Heather Reynolds last week, one of four new Democrats joining the board next month and swinging control to their party.

Democrat Karen Smith and Lucabaugh have clashed several times in email exchanges that got dragged into the public meetings. She will now be the senior member of the majority party starting in December.

At this point, however, any thing is really just speculation beyond what little is available until tonight's meeting at 7 in the auditorium at Central Bucks High School West, 375 W. Court St. in Doylestown.

What is the capacity of the meeting room and what happens if it's exceeded?

The capacity at the Welden Drive meeting room is 190 people and generally a little over half the room is set for public seating, roughly 100 seats with additional standing space for media, according to the district administration.

Neither CBSD School Board President Dana Hunter, district solicitor Jeffrey Garton or the district administration immediately responded Tuesday morning to an email asking if the board is anticipating the need to move the meeting location.

Under the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act, if a government body anticipates a higher than usual attendance at a public meeting, they should have prepared, or have available additional seating to accommodate as many people as want to attend and participate, according to Melissa Melewsky, staff counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association and a Sunshine Act legal expert.

If the government body attempts to prevent individuals who want to attend a public meeting, at any point during the meeting once it has begun, any individual can stand and object to a perceived violation of the Sunshine Act. The board must stop the meeting, note the objection in its meeting minutes and decide if it wants to proceed.

The objection starts the 30-day time window when individuals can file a civil or criminal complaint for an alleged Sunshine Law violation, Melewsky said.

The CBSD school board also frequently vote prior to opening public comment to limit the time for public comment to 90 minutes to two hours. Individuals who did not get an opportunity to speak are then put at the top of the list for public comment at the next meeting.

Staff Writer Jo Ciavaglia contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Central Bucks cutting ties with Lucabuagh in $600K agreement Tuesday