- Diane Richards started as chief financial officer on July 1
- She submitted her resignation and plans to return to her previous school district, the superintendent said
- The Allentown School District's transportation director resigned last month
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Allentown School District’s chief financial officer is resigning less than two months into the job.
Allentown schools Superintendent Carol Birks confirmed to LehighValleyNews.com that Diane Richards submitted her resignation Tuesday.
Birks did not give a reason but said Richards intended to return to the Gov. Mifflin School District in Berks County, where she was chief financial officer before taking the Allentown job.
The Allentown School Board approved Richards’ appointment on April 27 at an annual salary of $185,000. She began her five-year contract on July 1, according to a district news release.
“We wish her well,” Birks said Wednesday. “We thank her for sharing her gifts and talents with the school district and wish her the best in all her future pursuits.”
“We wish her well. We thank her for sharing her gifts and talents with the school district and wish her the best in all her pursuits.”Carol Birks, superintendent of the Allentown School District
Richards became the second department head to resign early in their tenure with the district. Last month the Allentown School Board approved the resignation of Transportation Director Randy Williams after less than a month on the job. The district had hoped to bring bus routing in-house to save money this fall but had to scuttle those plans with Williams' departure.
The district is also without a communications director.
Birks said Richard Fazio has returned to assume Richards’ duties as chief financial officer until a replacement is appointed. Fazio previously served as one of the interim business managers.
When Allentown appointed Richards, she was the president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials and had served on the organization’s board since 1998. She is also a member of both the American Institute of CPAs and the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs.
Reporter Sarah Mueller contributed to this report.
