WILSON, Pa. — The principal of Bethlehem Area Schools' Liberty High School will be the next superintendent of Wilson Area School District.
Members of the district’s school board voted unanimously Monday to appoint Harrison Bailey III to the post. His start date has not yet been set.
The board approved a four-year contract with Bailey; his pay will start at $185,000 per year.
“My children have really benefited from their experiences in this district, and so to have the honor to serve and give back to the community that served my children is special."New Wilson Area School District Superintendent Harrison Bailey III
He will the vacancy left when former superintendent Douglas Wagner retired at the end of July. For the first half of the 2024-25 school year, Wilson Area High School Principal John Martuscelli has served as the district’s acting superintendent.
A resident of Williams Township, Bailey attended Lafayette College and studied education at Lehigh University before getting a doctorate in education leadership from East Stroudsburg University.
Before arriving at Liberty in 2012, Bailey spent more than a decade as an assistant principal at Parkland High School. He began his career in education as a teacher at Freedom High in Bethlehem.
As a parent of children who attended and were bettered by the Wilson Area School District, Bailey said, his new job is an opportunity to return the favor and help the district thrive.
“My children have really benefited from their experiences in this district, and so to have the honor to serve and give back to the community that served my children is special,” he said.
‘Truly be amazing’
In 2021, the Pennsylvania Principals Association named Bailey the Secondary Principal of the Year, in large part because of his push, starting in 2017, to make school work better for students who have experienced trauma or mental health challenges.
As part of the initiative to make Liberty a “trauma-informed school,” Bailey opened a wellness center there, where social workers and mental health professionals offer support for students.
He said he is interested in bringing similar programs to Wilson as superintendent.
“That’s the hope, as long as the school board and the community want that,” he said.
“I know that if we are taking care of people and mental health in a holistic way, then the outcomes that we’ll get from that — not just academically but in terms of their life outcomes — will truly be amazing.”
