Frazier board brings back Smeigh as superintendent
PERRYOPOLIS – After five years of working for the state, the former superintendent of the Frazier School District will return to take on the role of acting superintendent in a unanimous decision Thursday by the school board.
Dr. Frederick L. Smeigh was selected for the position based on his previous record of turning around the district’s low achievement and financial status when he initially came to Frazier in 1991.
“It’s not something I thought might have happened six years ago, but it still feels good,” said Smeigh, who retired in 2005.
Smeigh is also credited with having Frazier become the only school district in Fayette County with an anti-nepotism policy.
Smeigh will begin his duties on May 16 and take the place of Tom Shetterly, business manager who has served as acting superintendent, until a superintendent is employed or until terminated by either party at a salary of $110,000 per year.
Smeigh said he is eager to tackle Frazier’s financial situation that currently shows a $1.3 million deficit for 2011-2012 in conjunction with the state’s proposed budget.
Shetterly has been serving as acting superintendent since October when former superintendent, Donald Martin, left to take a position with Intermediate Unit 1 as assistant executive director.
The board hired Smeigh in November to serve as a consultant to aide in the interview process by screening the initial applications and providing the board with recommendations.
The superintendent’s position was posted in local newspapers and featured in the weekly magazine for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) and the Tri-State Study Council.
Dave Simmons, board member, said there were 19 applicants, which was narrowed down to four then two, however the board found that Smeigh’s experience was a priority.
Smeigh came to Frazier in 1991 from Altoona where he remained superintendent until he retired in 2005 to accept a position with the state along with two fellow administrators.
Upon his arrival, Smeigh found that Frazier’s education program was placed on the state’s “Watch List” for district’s approaching financially distressed status.
Additionally, the former school board was faced with $900,000 deficit that forced them to raise taxes by 12 mills and close the former Brownfield School as well as lay off teachers.
Smeigh also learned there were only three of nine school board members that didn’t have relatives working for the district, which led to his recommendation and the board’s adoption of an anti-nepotism policy.
Following his retirement at Frazier, Smeigh worked as a team member in the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Distinguished Educator Initiative using his expertise to assist struggling school districts in the region that did not meet the state standards. In that position Smeigh traveled to a number of school districts in Allegheny and Greene counties.