Central Bucks Won't Challenge Former Superintendent's Severance Deal

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The Central Bucks School Board won't challenge former Superintendent Dr. Abram Lucabaugh's more than $700,000 severance agreement approved by the outgoing school board in November 2023.

Saying the risk is not worth the reward, School Board President Karen Smith announced the decision at the beginning of Tuesday night's board meeting.

"The board has made many inquiries regarding the legality of the severance payment made to the previous superintendent in Nov. 2023. The payment of more than $700,000 seemed excessive, particularly a sick day payment of $274,000," said Smith.

Under a 2015 modification to the school code, a severance payment cannot exceed one year's pay, said Smith. However, there's some ambiguity in the code regarding payout for sick days.

For example, Smith said the 2015 law says the payout for sick days follows the Act 93 agreement, which is the agreement for an administrator in a school district.

"Our agreement stipulated that when an administrator resigns or retires, payout of sick days is $15 per day," said Smith. "The contract for Dr. Lucabaugh stipulates that the payout is a per diem rate thus the payout of $274,000. However, the language in the school code is ambiguous on whether the restrictions only apply to his first contract (as an administrator) or all subsequent contracts (as superintendent)."

Since December, Smith said the board has been working with its solicitor on the prospect of challenging the separation agreement based on the sick time payout.

"We reviewed the legality of the case. We reviewed the current school code law. We reviewed the process by which the contract was made. And we reviewed the pros and cons of fighting the case," said Smith. "While the board believes the separation agreement for Dr. Lucabaugh was excessive, we are not sure it was illegal," she said. "A court would have to decide whether the sick day restrictions apply to Dr. Lucabaugh's final contract with the district."

The board, said Smith, reviewed several scenarios to challenge the agreement but decided in the end the risk is not worth the reward.

In one scenario, if the board won the case and the judge decided the agreement was not legal, it could nullify the deal and reinstate Lucabaugh as superintendent, said Smith.

In the best-case scenario, Smith said a judge could rule that the sick day requirement should follow the Act 93 agreement and the $274,000 could be reduced. In that scenario, she said, the district likely would have spent more than $75,000 in legal fees, reducing its potential savings.

"After reviewing the various scenarios, the board has decided not to fight the separation agreement and will move on," said Smith. "The board believes the reward is not worth the risk," she said citing the following reasons.

"With a new superintendent starting on July 1, we do not want to risk having to reinstate Dr. Lucabaugh as superintendent," said Smith.

If a judge rules that the separation agreement must follow the Act 93 agreement for a sick day payout, the district could recover more than $180,000, "but this is far from a guaranteed outcome," said Smith. "The best case scenario for the school district is about $180,000.

"If we lose the case the consequences are extreme," said Smith. "We went the last four months deliberating the case. The risk in not worth the reward. While we believe the agreement was excessive, our board will not be filing a challenge to the Lucabaugh separation agreement."