Woodland Hills Superintendent Joe Maluchnik was placed on unpaid leave Wednesday following an internal district investigation, the latest in ongoing controversy in the district.
The decision comes as the district has faced allegations of misuse of funds and questions surrounding Maluchnik’s leave.
School board members Karen Lyons, Melanie Timbers, Laura Arthrell and Cynthia Wallace approved placing Maluchnik on unpaid leave; Darnika Reed and Doneika Griffin voted against it. Ashley Brown abstained.
“Our kids are suffering because of all of this — all of the stuff on the news, all of the stuff on the internet, all of that stuff, it hurts our district,” Timbers said. “Our district is under attack, and it hurts my heart.”
Maluchnik was hired at Woodland Hills in January 2025. He was placed on paid administrative leave in November.
That same month, the board hired the Campbell Durrant law firm in response to allegations of misconduct raised regarding district employees, according to the agreement.
Some members questioned the accuracy of the investigation.
Griffin believed there was a conflict of interest among those involved with the investigation and that there were things omitted in the report, including a statement that said: “I had to get him before he got me.”
“We went through this process thinking it would be fair, thinking it would be valid, but now to hear there’s all these conflicts, I’m now wondering, how much damage have we done to our own district legally?” Griffin said.
Reed agreed and said there were various issues in the report, including an incident that mixed up two Black board members.
She also said the district had not received any sort of answer to the allegations from Maluchnik or his attorney.
Putting Maluchnik on leave, Reed feared, would cause the district to face a “harsh lawsuit.”
But not all board members found issues with the report. Arthrell said the board had to take action with an investigation after receiving employee conflicts with Maluchnik.
“We felt that the recommendation was a good one. …. We have felt that it’s good judgement to listen to this attorney that we paid and 12 pages of evidence. So, please don’t think we’re out doing something nefarious, this is not something we want to do,” Arthrell said.
Last week, Maluchnik and his attorney, Manning J. O’Connor, released a statement that said Maluchnik “experienced retaliation and a coordinated effort to remove him” after he raised concerns about the district’s fiscal practices, according to TribLive news partner WTAE.
Racunas said Wednesday that the board denies the allegations in the superintendent’s statement.
“The board further wishes to clarify, in the strongest possible terms, that its actions with respect to the superintendent are not connected to, are not motivated by, and are not related to the inaccurate statements made by the superintendent in that public communication,” Racunas said.
Timbers said she personally was not made aware of any concerns the Maluchnik may have had, and that she did not retaliate against him as a board member.
But Griffin said Maluchnik came to her with issues.
Last month, the Pennsylvania Office of the Budget said it would conduct an audit into the district’s records. That has not yet started, according to the district.