ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Community members supportive of schools Superintendent John Stanford protested his firing by the Allentown school board Wednesday morning at the Lehigh County Courthouse. Stanford's last day on the job is Friday.
About a dozen people gathered around 8 a.m. in the area of North Fifth and Hamilton streets, including members of the Allentown and Bethlehem NAACP. They said they were upset they were given no explanation by the board for why Stanford was let go less than a year after he started work.
The board ousted Stanford last Thursday after a contentious debate played out in a public vote. Board members Lisa Conover, LaTarsha Brown and Patrick Palmer voted against approval of a separation agreement. Audrey Mathison, Nick Miller, Phoebe Harris, Jennifer Lynn Ortiz and Board President Nancy Wilt voted in favor of it.
The agreement (see below) with Stanford gives him nine months' pay and a letter of recommendation.
School district attorney Jeffrey Sultanik previously disclosed school board members signed a mutually negotiated non-disclosure agreement regarding Stanford's departure. He said the board wanted to be clear that there has been no professional misconduct or impropriety.
Protestors on Wednesday demanded the school district provide an explanation for why Stanford was let go, holding signs reading, "Do the taxpayers have a say?" and "Why were our kids ignored?" Another sign asked, "What does Dr. Stanford know and what was he trying to say?"
Allentown NAACP secretary Barbara Redmond called for Wilt to resign. She said the board president is more interested in politics than in educating Allentown students. Wilt is the chief of staff for State Rep. Peter Schweyer, D-Lehigh. She did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
"We don't want our children to be housed," Redmond said. "We want our children to be educated."
Despite her public vote, Wilt also wrote Stanford a reference letter on behalf of the entire school board. It praised him as a talented, skilled and dedicated leader.
Local activist Esther Lee was the first Black woman elected to a school board in the Lehigh Valley in 1971. She said the situation smacks of discrimination.
"I charge Allentown with racism," said Lee, who lives in Bethlehem and served on the school board there. "We cannot continue to allow the white man to control in this sense the non-education of our children."
Conover, the school board's vice president, said despite her position, she does not know the reason Stanford was dismissed. But she said she just learned there are 209 district vacancies that need to be filled, including teaching and district administration positions.
Conover said every time there's a new superintendent, student learning lags more years behind. Stanford was the Allentown School District's fifth superintendent since 2010 and the second Black superintendent.
"If we don't put in a position to excel, there will always be a school-to-prison pipeline," she said. "There will always be corporate that's going to be making money off of our students."
It was a little more than a year ago when the board selected Stanford following a comprehensive and rigorous search process. It included focus groups conducted with staff members, community members, elected officials, families and students.
The focus groups led to the creation of a leadership profile used to identify potential candidates like Stanford who met the criteria community members identified.
“In Dr. Stanford, we are confident we have found an exceptional candidate who possesses the right combination of skills, experience and background to lead the Allentown School District well into the future,” said Wilt in announcing Stanford's hiring last September.
From a $230,000 annual salary, Stanford will receive $172,500 in separation pay.
He will also get a week of sick days at $70 a day, more than six days of vacation and a prorated contribution to his 401(k) of $11,500. He also retains health insurance coverage through June 2023 unless he becomes employed by another public school district before then.
News Release Fatal Crash on Sept. 6, 2022 by Samara on Scribd
This story will be updated.
