Longtime LH principal retires
The Laurel Highlands School Board accepted the retirement of middle school principal Carmen Galderisi and hired two assistant principals, one to take his place, at a special meeting held earlier this week. Galderisi retired following close to 40 years of service with the district, with many years being spent as principal of Hutchinson Elementary.
School District Superintendent Dr. Ronald Sheba declined to comment on the matter Wednesday, including on the circumstances leading up to the Galderisi’s retirement.
District solicitor Gary Frankhouser also declined to comment and was unwilling to provide a copy of Galderisi’s retirement letter, which the solicitor said contained only two sentences stating the assistant principal’s intent to retire.
Frankhouser or Sheba did not comment on questions about a paid advertisement that was published in the Herald-Standard in July that sought support for Galderisi to keep his assistant principal job.
The ad called for people to attend a special meeting scheduled last week to discuss personnel matters, but the session was canceled. Afterward, Sheba said that “the issue has been resolved.”
Galderisi was not available for comment Wednesday.
In July 2005, the board approved the transfer of Galderisi, Hutchinson Elementary principal, to serve as assistant principal at Laurel Highlands Middle School, effective Aug. 8. Former assistant principal Mary Macar was promoted to principal the same summer.
Galderisi’s retirement is effective Oct. 9. Up to then, he will perform duties as assistant principal, while the time also will serve as a transition period for the new assistant principal, said Sheba.
The board approved hiring two secondary administrators, one who will serve as assistant principal at the middle school, the other at the high school, though Sheba is still working out the details of each person’s placement.
Randy Miller and Michael Rozgony, both graduates of Laurel Highlands High School, are scheduled to return to their alma mater after being hired for the assistant principal positions.
According to Sheba, Miller served as an administrator in the Mars Area School District in southern Butler County and a teacher in the Conneaut School District, while Rozgony previously held an acting administrator position in the Uniontown Area School District.
In June, the board approved hiring Lori DiCenzo as the high school assistant principal after the job became open when Edward Zelich was promoted to principal of Hatfield Elementary. Since then, DiCenzo has accepted a position with the Brownsville Area School District, resigning as school psychologist/attendance officer at Laurel Highlands.
The board abolished her former position and the psychologist/guidance counselor position, saving the district money, but Sheba did not know immediately how much.
The board approved the following hires: Andrea Barchetti as high school guidance counselor; Lon Hayes as high school guidance/attendance officer; Joe Pergar as a middle school health and physical education teacher; John Sharp and Mike Deleonibus as high school math teachers; Jason Dunham as itinerant secondary special education teacher; and Larry Frank as high school technology instructor.
The board accepted the resignations of Christopher Pegg, fourth-grade teacher at Clark Elementary School and Lisa Peccon, high school math teacher. Pegg has nine years of service with the district, while Peccon has been a yearlong employee of the district.
The board also:
– Awarded a video camera of $161,057. Sheba said the purchase is a digital upgrade to the school’s security system, and will improve student safety, track violators and promote better behavior among everyone.
Cameras are located in each school building, added Sheba.
– Awarded a contract for concrete work at the high school athletic field to Maracon, Inc., of Uniontown. The entranceway to the field will be improved at a cost of $64,800. The work has begun and is expected for completion before the start of the school year, Sheba said.
The work will not affect the Relay for Life event to take place on the high school field Aug. 12 and 13. “That is a big event and we wanted to make sure it didn’t interfere with that worthwhile cause,” said Sheba.
– Authorized the purchase of a high school computer lab for $19,347 and student desks for $4,500 at the high school with monies for the latter to be taken from the construction fund.
– Announced the next board meeting will be held Thursday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. The meeting place is tentatively scheduled for the high school library.