Laurel Highlands board OKs administrative changes
Directors create assistant to superintendent position
The Laurel Highlands School District Board of Education approved an administrative reorganization Monday that moves most of the district’s principals to other buildings and also created an assistant superintendent position.
The board approved the slate of administrative changes by a 6-3 vote. In a separate 7-1 vote, with one board member passing, it named Jessica Scott, previous principal at George Marshall Elementary School, to a newly created assistant superintendent position.
Board President Marcus DiNunno said the board had been considering rotating principals for a number of years. He said the idea was that the change could create “a new spark” in them.
“Once you’re in a position for 20 years, you know your staff, which is a good thing,” he said. “But it’s also a thing where you are complacent how you deal with your staff, because they have that personal relationship with you now. We’re confident in our administrators. We believe they’ll do well where we put them, so we just thought that was a good time to do the moves.”
The administrators were told of the potential changes ahead of the district’s announcement of them earlier this month, he said.
DiNunno said the board began looking at the new assistant superintendent position after institutional sexual assault charges were filed against two Laurel Highlands High School teachers this spring.
The additional position would be able to augment the work of Superintendent Jesse Wallace by being more hands-on, and hold building principals more accountable for how they oversee their buildings, DiNunno said.
“The superintendent currently may be stretched a little bit thin with other goings-on, so it would just seem to me to be able to have somebody with that flexibility and be more visible in the buildings providing support was a much-needed position,” DiNunno said.
After the meeting, Wallace said he wasn’t involved in the development of the assistant superintendent role, but supported the new position.
“There’s a lot of work in the superintendent’s office,” he said. “Having another set of eyes being out in the public and in the buildings will help us, and I feel like they gave me that opportunity with the appointment of Dr. Scott.”
DiNunno said the administrative changes had also been suggested independently by MBM Law, the firm the district hired to review procedures earlier this year. The firm anticipates it will complete its review by the beginning of the school year, DiNunno said.
The new lineup keeps Bobbi Downs as high school principal and John Diamond as middle school assistant principal, who were switched in the spring. Matthew Kalich was also retained as assistant principal.
At the middle school, the new principal is Heidi Mears, previously principal of Hatfield Elementary School. She traded positions with Michael Rozgony.
Paul Eckert, who had been an assistant principal at the high school, is now principal at R.W. Clark Elementary. Emilie Kurek, who had been principal at Clark, moved to George Marshall Elementary School.
The new principal of Hutchinson Elementary School is Jason Johns, who had served as assistant to curriculum, director of federal programs and food service. He replaces Rick Hauger, who retired after more than 20 years with the district.
Lori DiCenzo will continue to serve as director of special education after holding the position in an interim capacity in 2025-26. Her role overseeing pupil and personnel services will now be handled by former assistant high school principal Brandi Mancini, whose role will also include cafeteria, attendance, central registration, and other duties.
The board voted 7-1, with one member passing, to name Scott as assistant superintendent.
Tom Landman, who passed on the vote, said, “I believe right now we have an adequate amount of administrators in our district.”
Board member Joe D’Andrea, who voted no, first asked for clarification that the position had not been posted before being offered to Scott, and that Scott would not receive a pay raise in the new role. In response, he was told the position had not been posted, and DiNunno said Scott’s final salary was pending contract review and agreement, later adding that the intent was to pay her the same salary, which is $117,238.
Earlier in the meeting, D’Andrea read a statement opposing the reorganization and the new position, which he said was filled without interviewing others in “the opposite of transparency.”
“The board is prioritizing connections over competence,” he said, citing Johns’ work in getting grants for the district. “…I believe that we should evaluate our staff on their strengths and capitalize on them. The reorganization doesn’t do that, and I believe it is not best for the education and mental health of our students.”
After the meeting, DiNunno said the list posted on the district’s page had been preliminary, and that discussions had continued up through the executive session that preceded Monday’s meeting.
The administrative changes passed 6-3, with Kenneth Meadows joining D’Andrea and Landman in voting against the moves.
“I greatly respect the opinion of my colleagues here,” Landman said. “However, I totally disagree with moving administrators in our district, especially the elementary schools. Therefore, I’m a hard no on this.”
Residents who spoke at Monday’s meeting echoed D’Andrea’s concerns about transparency, and were also concerned about the impact of swapping out longtime administrators who they felt have been doing a good job.
Many Clark school families singled out Kurek for praise.
Eli Lozada, whose granddaughter is a student at Clark, has gone to the school every year for its Veterans Day ceremony.
“She knows everybody by name,” he said. “It’s nice to know that the kids can put their trust in her and they feel comfortable with her … if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. There’s no complacency at Clark.”
Annie Kutek of Uniontown said while she thought most of the changes would be beneficial, she was concerned about principals moving from middle and elementary school positions. She compared it to swapping championship coaches in football and basketball.
“While it may be easy to look at them and say, ‘They’re principals, it’s a lateral move,’ the culture and environment from middle school to elementary school are vastly different,” she said. “They have experiences in those environments that are essential for both schools.”