Former Central Bucks superintendent Lucabaugh says he won’t bring district’s controversial policies to Centennial

Before a vote next week by the Centennial school board to hire him as its new leader, former Central Bucks Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh distanced himself from the controversial policies he carried out under a GOP-led board there that later gave him a $700,000 payout.

“The policies that were passed in Central Bucks by the board are not policies I advocate for in Centennial,” Lucabaugh said during a community forum Thursday at a school in Warminster.

While “I acknowledge … it was my responsibility to implement policy, I did become the face of that policy,” Lucabaugh said. “It was personally and professionally very taxing.”

Lucabaugh, who was announced earlier this month as the Republican-led Centennial board’s choice for its next superintendent, has faced protest from some community members in the Bucks County district who have objected to his record in Central Bucks.

During Lucabaugh’s tenure there, the board passed policies restricting “sexualized content” in library books and banning staff “advocacy” in classrooms, including the display of Pride flags.

The board faced intense backlash, including a complaint filed by the ACLU alleging the district had created a hostile environment for LGBTQ students. The district paid the Duane Morris firm more than $1 million to defend against the complaint, including conducting an internal investigation that determined the allegations were unfounded.

Critics saw Lucabaugh as an ally of the board. During the Pride flag controversy, for instance, he defended the policy by saying “hanging a flag doesn’t do anything to keep a kid safe.” He also linked efforts to protect children against sexual predators to content in library books.

Days after Democrats swept the school board elections in November 2023, Lucabaugh resigned — and received a $700,000 separation agreement approved by the GOP majority that drew fresh controversy.

On Thursday, Lucabaugh addressed his departure from Central Bucks by describing the district as a “very political place.”

The school board was “incredibly divided,” he said. “They were so dug in, and so entrenched in their political beliefs, I found it almost impossible to effectively work in the role.”

He also said that there were “things happening to me as superintendent that I found completely unacceptable,” and that he was “approached with an opportunity to separate from the district.”

It was not the outcome he wanted, Lucabaugh said, but “instead of litigation, I decided it was the best course of action.”

The separation agreement approved by Central Bucks included a $50,000 settlement to resolve “potential issues or claims,” including “allegations made by Dr. Lucabaugh of a pattern of harassment that undermined his ability to carry out the functions of his job and contributed to an environment of incivility and hostility during his tenure.”

Democrats who now control the Central Bucks board authorized a legal challenge to the separation agreement, but dropped it after concluding they might not win.

Lucabaugh — fielding questions Thursday from Mark Hoffman, the executive director of the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, who said he had compiled questions submitted in advance by community members — said he believed that schools should create a “safe space for students,” and that adults need to intervene when children are being bullied.

Lucabaugh has worked in education for 27 years, starting as an English teacher in the Hatboro-Horsham School District before moving to Central Bucks in 2007 and becoming its superintendent in 2021. He said Thursday that he would meet with members of the LGBTQ community in Centennial to hear their experiences.

“I am not here tonight asking you to trust. I‘m asking you for an opportunity to earn that trust,” Lucabaugh said.

Some of his critics were not persuaded.

“His answers were canned, rehearsed,” said Nancy Pontius, a district parent and spokesperson for Concerned Citizens of Centennial School District, a group that has mobilized against Lucabaugh’s selection. “He said what he wanted to say in order to make himself look and sound good.”

Pontius said it was “disingenuous that he blamed the school board” in Central Bucks, and felt Lucabaugh bore more responsibility than he conveyed for policies there. She said that given Centennial’s Republican majority, she is concerned that “what happened in Central Bucks could happen in Centennial,” and questioned whether Lucabaugh would seek to leave if the board switched to Democratic control.

“How much money is he going to cost us?” Pontius said.

Lucabaugh got a 40% raise in his final months in Central Bucks, bringing his salary to $315,000. The current Centennial superintendent, Dana Bedden, made $221,000 last year.

Under a proposed three-year contract with Centennial, Lucabaugh would make $225,000 a year, according to a document posted by the district Friday. The school board is scheduled to vote on the contract during a meeting Tuesday.