Montour School District

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Dworakowski resigns as Montour superintendent[]

Friday, August 28, 2009 By Brian David, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Patrick Dworakowski resigned as Montour School District superintendent, 26 months after taking the job.

"We've decided to turn to a new chapter in our life and our family," he said, noting that there were both professional and personal reasons for the decision.

He declined to offer more specifics, but said the decision had developed "over some time."

The school board accepted the resignation without comment.

"I was shocked," board president Bill Ewonce said after the meeting. "He gave me a phone call this afternoon and told me he had a letter of resignation for tonight. I said, 'whose resignation?' and he said, 'mine.' I had no idea it was coming."

Mr. Ewonce said board members had not had time to think much about looking for a replacement.

"We're four hours into this," he said. "We're going to regroup, talk to everybody, see what we can figure out and try to get this thing moving in the right direction."

Dr. Dworakowski's tenure is on par for Montour, which will be seeking its fifth superintendent since the retirement of Joe Karlik in 2001.

Ron Mento, hired in 2002, was fired in 2004 and later won a judgment for back pay from the district.

Joe Findley, a principal in the district, was named to replace Dr. Mento on an interim basis and later hired permanently, only to resign suddenly in 2006 to go back to being a principal. The school board declined to renew his contract this year and replaced him earlier this month.

Carl DeJulio took the job of acting superintendent in 2006 and helped the school board choose Dr. Dworakowski, who was hired in June 2007. Dr. DeJulio went on to serve as the district's representative in the high school renovation project he helped launch, then had his contract terminated last year.

That renovation project plagued Dr. Dworakowski's tenure. After closing half the high school and starting demolition in 2007, the school board shut down the project when construction bids came in about $20 million over budget in 2008. The board eventually fired architect Victor Graves and hired Apostolou and Associates. New construction designs are being created and construction is now projected to begin in early 2010.

Dr. Dworakowski's resignation is effective Sept. 8, 2009.