Dinniman Introduces Bill in Response
to OJR Schools' Superintendent Flap
Senator’s SB 1007 Limits Power of Lame-Duck School Boards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2009

CONTACT: MARTIN INDARS
PHONE: 610-692-2112
mindars@pasenate.com

State Senator Andy Dinniman has introduced a bill to limit the power of school boards in certain situations in response to Owen J. Roberts School Board’s recent termination of District Superintendent Myra Forrest.

On June 22, a divided OJR school board voted 5-4 to fire Superintendent Myra Forrest, an action which drew more than 1,000 protestors to a Monday meeting in the school district’s high school auditorium. Three of the five school board members who voted to fire Forrest were defeated in the May primary election and will leave the school board after their terms expire in November.

Dinniman’s Senate Bill 1007, introduced on Thursday, would ban school boards from acting on a school superintendent’s contract if three or more of its members are in lame-duck status due to a defeat in a primary election and if at least 11 months remain on the superintendent’s contact. The bill will be referred to the Senate Education Committee, of which Senator Dinniman is minority chairman.

“I believe it’s not right that school board members recently rejected by voters have the ability to determine the future of a school district and its leader, and that’s why I’ve introduced this bill,” Dinniman said. “While this bill unfortunately cannot be applied to the current situation in the Owen J. Roberts School District, it still should be viewed as a statement and clear message of support for the residents who voted in the May primary election and who came to Monday’s meeting to protest the school board’s recent action.”

“And it should also prevent what happened in the OJR School District from happening elsewhere in the Commonwealth,” Dinniman added.

Pennsylvania law states that school superintendents’ contracts must end on June 30 of a respective year. State law also requires school boards to notify superintendents of their plans to renew or end his or her contract at least 150 days prior to the last day of the contract - effectively meaning notification most occur prior to February.

Dinniman’s bill thus still allows school boards to take action prior to a primary election on a superintendent’s contract that expires shortly after a primary election in those years when those two events coincide. But it bans lame-duck boards from acting on a non-expiring contract after the Primary election.

For more details, contact Martin Indars in Senator Dinniman’s office at 610-692-2112 or at mindars@pasenate.com.

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