Thank you!
Dr. Frederick L. Smeigh’s death last week at the age of 71 shocked and saddened family members, friends and colleagues of the former Frazier School District superintendent.
However, they can be consoled by the fact that he’ll be remembered for a long time as one of the finest educators in the history of Fayette County.
A 1960 graduate of Altoona High School, Smeigh went on to serve for 13 years as the assistant superintendent in the Altoona Area School District before being hired as the superintendent for Frazier in 1991.
At the time, the school district was not in good shape, academically and financially. According to Bill Vargo, former Frazier School Board president, the district was on the verge of being declared a distressed school district.
Smeigh served as superintendent for 13 years, turning things around and then some. He put the district on a solid financial footing, while, at the same time, earning rave reviews for the academic accomplishments of his students.
Back in 2004, Frazier School District students ranked in the top six percent of schools in the state for reading and math on the Pennsylvania State System of Assessment (PSSA) test scores. It was also selected as a Model School District in 2003 and 2004 by the council of Chief State School Officers and International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE).
After earning his doctorate in education leadership from the University of Pittsburgh, Smeigh received the Distinguished Educator Award for Exceptional Leadership for Public School Staff in 1998 from the university’s Study Council.
Colleagues praised Smeigh for his planning skills, noting he based everything on research and data. After Smeigh retired from the Frazier School District, he was selected as a member of the state Department of Education’s Distinguished Educator Initiative, where he served for six years, trying to help turn around troubled school districts.
In 2011, Smeigh accepted a position with OnHands Schools Inc. of Pittsburgh, which provides developmental and coaching services to teachers, administrators and principals. At the time of his death, he was working with the Albert Gallatin Area School District on professional development.
“We held him in the highest regard as a person, as an educator and as a friend,” said Jim Turner, head of professional development at OnHands.
One of the first things Smeigh set out to do as superintendent became his signature accomplishment. He urged the board to pass an anti-nepotism policy, the only one in existence then and now in Fayette County.
The board did so, and Smeigh credited the anti-nepotism policy with the biggest reason behind the district’s shining test scores. He added that it took several years after the nepotism policy was enacted for the district to reap its full benefits as he had to make several other personnel changes to get the district performing to maximum efficiency.
The only shame is that other school district officials in Fayette County didn’t follow Smeigh’s lead even though their test scores generally failed to measure up to those posted by Frazier students. Some have even tried to belittle Frazier’s accomplishments while strenuously defending their own hiring policies.
As they say, the proof is in the pudding, and you have to take Smeigh at his word that the anti-nepotism policy was crucial to the school’s subsequent academic success.
For his courage and integrity in pushing for the policy, Frazier School District residents owe Smeigh a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. The biggest tribute they could pay to Smeigh would be to keep the anti-nepotism policy in effect for generations to come.