Castagna will be the acting superintendent for one year or until a new superintendent is hired. Jury orders West Mifflin School District to pay $2.9M to former I come to you tonight concerned that the board is only going to add to this image problem by bringing in Dr. Dan Castagna to lead our district." This realization helped lead the district into phasing out police presence in their school. "There are currently five board members who were not on the board when the decision was made to terminate Superintendent James Harris in December," was the opening comment made by board member Carlton Scott of Region 1 - Chalfant, Churchill, Wilkins, and Turtle Creek, which started off the meeting before registered speakers made their statements. "That action often gave the impression that we were downplaying the severity of the incident," the letter states. pic.twitter.com/l73WMgdWIs, Nicole Ford (@NicoleFordTV) March 23, 2023. Harris: You have to go building by building, and you have to empower the building leadership to make decisions. Dave Gremmels - General Manager, Superintendent - Woodland Hills Golf 10:24 AM. Mike Belmonte; Terri Lawson; Dr. Tammi L. McMillan, Ed.D; Darnika Reed; Carlton Scott; Bridgett . "If you all vote tonight to remove this great man, this great leader, you are making a bad decision, a real bad decision. email: castda@whsd.net Please choose someone else.". . Strategic Plan Midpoint - Professional Education. In recent weeks, several fights have broken out at the district's high school. On Wednesday, Aug. 15, the Woodland Hills School Board voted unanimously to hire Harris as the next superintendent for the Allegheny County district, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Woodland Hills School District officials voted 8-1 in November 2021 to terminate the contract of Superintendent James Harris effective December 17. We didnt do that; thats not our role. Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. He is not eligible for any benefits but will be paid $615 per day. Harris has come under fire recently for his handling of fights at the high school, including one involving as many as 50 or 60 students. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. We have over 200 kids, 400 parents in our program and they're very upset about it and everybody in the community doesn't know what's going on right now," said Kareem Sarvis from the Woodland Hills Midget Football Association. To my new Woodland Hills School District family, I hope this verdict allows us all to move forward together with the goal of creating opportunities for our students and multiple pathways to success, he said. Please enter valid email address to continue. When they bring that role of police into the building, it does create an environment that is a bit more tense than if they were not police, just by the nature of the role.