Plum superintendent resigning to take role at North Allegheny
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Plum Borough School District superintendent is resigning to take the same role at the North Allegheny School District.
Dr. Brendan Hyland was the principal at the intermediate school in North Allegheny when it was hit with a federal lawsuit. North Allegheny teachers claimed he was not easy to work under.
After being Plum's superintendent for about five years, Hyland is set to return to North Allegheny, but the welcome wagon isn't being rolled out by all.
"I think there are quite a few board members who are doing what they personally want instead of thinking of what the community wants," North Allegheny parent Melinda Wedde said.
She has two children in the district and was part of a parent focus group for the district.
"The main thing that parents mentioned was safety -- a candidate for superintendent who could focus on safety -- and I don't think this is the right candidate for that," Wedde said.
Concerns stem from a 2016 lawsuit when Hyland was the principal at North Allegheny Intermediate.
It alleged a girl was bullied and sexually harassed by her peers in 2009-2010. Dr. Hyland apparently knew but did not do enough to stop it, according to the lawsuit. This came up when he was hired by Plum and their solicitor said it had been settled out of court and two-thirds of it were dropped.
"See if maybe there has been a change in behavior, maybe we can give this person a second chance. We just don't know," Wedde said.
She feels the school board hiring process has not been transparent. As of last week, they didn't know the name of the candidate. It wasn't until Plum announced Dr. Hyland was leaving their district to take the job at North Allegheny that his name came up.
"This hiring process has been really, really quick. It has taken less than a month," Wedde said over Zoom.
North Allegheny teachers warned Plum in a letter not to hire him.
"We just really want somebody that not just students, but teachers can really put their trust in," Wedde said.
The school board meeting starts at 7 p.m. KDKA-TV reached out to the school board, the school solicitor and Dr. Hyland earlier Monday but did not hear back until airtime.