Abram Lucabaugh took the stage Thursday night at Log College Middle School in Warminster for a Q&A listening session where he made the case to the Centennial School District community about why he is the right person to be the next superintendent.
First, according to Lucabaugh, the buck doesn’t stop with him when it comes to the controversies he left behind him in Central Bucks School District. He said he “found it almost impossible to effectively work” because of what he says was a “divisive” political divide on the board – which was run by a far-right, Moms for Liberty aligned Republican majority who refused to engage with Democratic board members in good faith – or even share information with them.
He then suggested that it was the board majority’s fault for passing the policies that he had to implement, even though responsibility – maybe unfairly – has been assigned to him.
“And I will acknowledge that when policy was passed in Central Bucks and it was my responsibility to implement policy, I did become the face of that policy,” he said, adding, “And I will sit here and tell you that it was personally and professionally very taxing.”
One of these policies was a library policy, secretly drafted by the right-wing Christian Independence Law Center, that made it easier for parents to challenge and ban books.
Now he says, “I do not advocate for a policy on the removal of things as books.”
This is a change.
Another policy mandated prohibiting Pride Flags, and suggested teachers were trying to “indoctrinate” or “coerce” students in attempt to muzzle educators in the classroom.
There were about 100 people listening in person and more than 200 viewers online. One of the online viewers was Diana Leygerman, a Central Bucks School District parent and taxpayer who tuned in because she was curious as to how he would address his tenure in his former district. She was taken aback by what she heard.
“I found it cowardly he blamed his friends on the former Board for every controversy while taking absolutely no accountability for his own actions. He worked for the former right-wing majority and implemented their bigoted policies while gaslighting CB parents with his lengthy emails full of empty platitudes,” said Leygerman.
She wasn’t done.
“He has no spine, no backbone. He just admitted he will bend to every whim of any board even if he knows the policies go against what’s best for students and staff. He’s not a leader, he’s a fraud,” Leygerman added. “I hope the parents and taxpayers of Centennial think long and hard about what kind of person they are choosing as the leader for their community.”
READ: Central Bucks School District Looks to Muzzle Teachers in the Classroom
Centennial parents didn’t seem to be buying what Lucabaugh was selling either.
“I am not buying his ‘I have changed, I blame the school board’ message. His responses were canned, and carefully crafted to sound nice with no substance in his answers,” said Nancy Pontius, a Warminster resident, teacher, parent and spokesperson for “Concerned Citizens of Centennial School District,” a grassroots advocacy group.
Nicole Lynch, a Centennial parent from Southampton Township, thought the whole format with pre-screened questions and Lucabaugh’s vague answers were disappointing. She also believes he was being dishonest.
“Dr. Lucabaugh placed blame for the controversial policies at Central Bucks on their board, saying he had no choice but to enforce policies even if he didn’t believe in them, but his actions are in direct opposition to his words,” said Lynch. “He worked with the CBSD board under Republican leadership and never spoke out, but as soon as the board flipped he left as quickly as he could, taking $700,000 of taxpayer money with him.”
The right-wing school board majority rewarded his loyalty with a new contract and $90,000 a year raise just four months before the 2023 election. Then after Democrats swept Republicans and regained the majority, Lucabaugh swiftly resigned and the outgoing board’s swan song was gifting him with a $700,000 “golden parachute” of a severance package as he walked out the door.
Lynch says Lucabaugh’s actions speak louder than his words.
The school board is expected to vote on an employment contract for Lucabaugh, the former controversial and divisive Central Bucks School District superintendent, at its next business meeting Tuesday, May 27.
ABC Action News reported two school board directors it spoke to plan to vote no on Lucabaugh’s employment contract.
“I think the deal breakers for the community should be the financial risk and the lack of transparency with the search,” Lynch added.
In total, Lucabaugh responded to 10 questions centering on common themes found from the 56 submitted in advance. No live questions were permitted at the meeting. The Bucks County Intermediate Unit managed the superintendent search and hosted Thursday’s meeting.
Questions put to Lucabaugh were anchored by financial stewardship, leadership, communication, treatment of marginalized groups and LGBTQ+ students, library operations and books, among others.
Another thing Lucabaugh said was that teachers were obligated to publically step in if they saw students being bullied.
However in 2023 the American Civil Liberties Union Pennsylvania took action – the second time in less than a year – against Central Bucks over its treatment and punitive policies against LGBTQ+ students and their allies under Lucabaugh’s leadership.
A middle school teacher who had defended a transgender student against bullying sued the district “after administrators had failed to address repeated harassment by classmates,” said the ACLU PA, which filed a federal complaint.
At the time, the teacher’s employment’s employment status was under review and he was subsequently moved to a different school, ACLU PA said.
Millions of taxpayer dollars were spent in litigation costs against lawsuits; Central Bucks was prominently reported in national news outlets.
A national search for Centennial’s top job began earlier this year. The BCIU received about 32 applications and from them offered Centennial a hand-full of vetted candidates. Dana Bedden, Centennial’s current superintendent, resigned last November. His last day is June 30.
“When Dr Lucabaugh was announced as the top candidate in April, it gave us a week to get the word out and so many people showed up at the May 13 work session,” said Pontius. “This whole system for the search did not make sense and did not follow past precedent for previous superintendent searches,” she said.
A press release dated May 8 was posted on Centennial’s website announcing the May 27 vote.
Thursday’s meeting recording is available here.
The evening’s final question was centered on a perception of division surrounding Lucabaugh; restoring public confidence and trust.
“I know trust is something you earn. I am not here tonight asking you to trust, I’m asking for an opportunity to earn that trust,” Lucabaugh said.
Cyril Mychalejko added reporting to this article.
