Democrats swept the Philly suburbs Bucks County school board election this month, so Republicans let Abram Lucabaugh resign with a $700,000 golden parachute.
Lucabaugh had been a good soldier, fighting the culture wars alongside Republican board members while stoking hate toward LGBTQ students. The Bucks County Herald reports:
Lucabaugh, who received a new five-year contract and an $85,000 raise in July, is expected to receive approximately $630,000 in a severance package. That amount includes one year of his salary, unpaid sick leave and vacation time, as well as a $50,000 settlement payment, according to the separation agreement.
A $10,000 consulting fee for the superintendent is also under consideration. The payment is a flat fee for him to provide services to the interim superintendent through Sept. 30, according to the service agreement. Should the new board want to continue Lucabaugh’s consulting services beyond that, the cost would be $1,000 per day, or $500 for a half-day, with a half-day minimum.
Additionally, the severance agreement states that the superintendent is “held harmless” from “any and all demands, claims, lawsuits, actions and legal proceedings brought against him (Lucabaugh) in his individual capacity and/or in his official capacity as permitted by Pennsylvania law.
Wow, sweet deal if you can get it. Big money, plus the payroll taxes, plus consulting fee (LOL) for the new board to pay if they might want to use his "consulting services" (LOL), PLUS no liability for anything he did while he was superintendent. Can you spell C-O-R-R-U-P-T-I-O-N?
And that cash lump sum payment? It includes $265,000 for 219 unused sick days for just under 3 years of service. Nice work if you can get it. I know of no job that gives people 80+ sick days per year. He also gets a lump sum payment of $315,000 which represents a year's salary after his original contract was terminated after 2 years and a new one granted with a 40 percent raise. "In addition to the $265,000 for unused sick days, the agreement provides $32,000 for 26.5 unused vacation days, and $4,200 for 3.5 unused personal days. And it includes a $50,000 “settlement agreement” to resolve “any and all issues or potential issues or claims ... in any way arising from or connected with” Lucabaugh’s employment with the district," Pennsylvania Inquirer updates.
Republicans then had the nerve to tell furious taxpaying parents who have to bear the brunt of this obscene golden parachute that this was really a deal, that if the Democratic board had terminated him it would have cost them far more. For their part, raging community members (and taxpayers, lets remember) were not having it.
It would be nice if someone on the incoming board found a way to cut a few strings on that parachute and let Lucabaugh just fall where he may.
As a final middle finger to students and parents, the board banned transgender students from playing sports, a policy the incoming Democrats have vowed to delete.
Republicans doing Republican things.
