The North Allegheny School Board voted to hire former North Allegheny Intermediate High School Principal Brendan Hyland on Monday as NA’s school superintendent despite concerns from some NA board members and members of the public that the superintendent’s search had been rushed.
In a 6-3 vote, the board approved a five-year contract for Hyland effective July 1, with a starting salary of $240,000.
“I express my deepest thanks to the board for their vote of confidence,” Hyland said after the vote. He called his appointment the “highlight of his professional career” and he would be engaged in a “single-minded and uncompromising focus on excellence.”
Board President Libby Blackburn insisted that the search had been comprehensive, directed by the search firm BR2, resulting in 31 applicants, eight of whom had been brought in for interviews.
She said the board wanted an experienced, confident, honest and trustworthy candidate who possessed knowledge of the region and the district.
Hyland had been principal of NAI for 11 years before being hired by the Plum School District as superintendent in 2018.
“NA is a special place and I know you are the right person to move our district forward,” said board member Dr. Vidya Szymkowiak.
However, critics who spoke at Monday’s board meeting said that only one candidate – Hyland – had been brought in for a second interview and not enough input had been obtained from students, teachers and the community.
“The hiring process frustrated me,” said board member Elizabeth Warner, who said that job interview procedures for teachers and administrators “are far more rigorous.”
Board members Leslie Britton Dozier and Paige Hardy agreed with Warner that the process felt rushed and all three voted no to Hyland’s appointment.
Hardy called it an “extremely abbreviated process.” Search consultants BR2 conducted several focus groups in May to get feedback from the community and school staff. However, Hardy said some, if not all, of the focus group meetings were capped at 30 people.
Sarah Boyle of Regency Drive, said Hyland could be a good candidate, but felt the process went too fast to know.
Others supported him, including NA resident Alice Beckett Rumberger who said he seemed highly qualified and trusted the board’s vetting process.
“There are concerns that we should be mindful of but our school district needs to move forward,” she said.
Blackburn said this search received the largest pool of applicants compared with each of the last three superintendent searches since she joined the board in 2011.
Melinda Wedde, a resident of McCandless expressed concerns that Hyland had been mentioned in lawsuit that alleged he had not done enough to address bullying and sexual harassment of a sophomore girl at NAI while he was principal there.
Hyland was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed against North Allegheny.
Most of allegations in the lawsuit were dismissed in 2016; one was settled out of court through the district’s insurance company.
Hyland had been hired at Plum a year after three teachers were convicted for having sex with students and the district paid financial settlements to its high school principal and superintendent whose resignations were connected to the scandal.
Some members of the NA board said Monday that Hyland made great strides at Plum in accountability, education and restoring confidence.
“His credentials speak for themselves,” said NA board Vice President Marcie Crow. “He blew everyone else out of the water.”
Hyland places Melissa Friez, who announced her resignation as NA superintendent in May to take the superintendent’s post at Mt. Lebanon.
Hyland graduated from University of Pittsburgh in 1991 with bachelor’s in education with an emphasis on political science, according to a biography from the Plum School District. He earned a master’s degree and principal’s certification in administration and policy studies from the University of Pittsburgh.
“(T)the more people that get to know him, the more they will like him,” Crow said.
Natalie Beneviat is a Trib Total Media contributing writer.