Tomorrow night the West Mifflin Area school board will hold a special meeting to vote on the appointment of a new superintendent. The vote comes one week after current Superintendent Patrick Risha, citing declining health, announced his plans to retire effective Dec. 23.

The meeting is being held even though four current board members will leave office next month after losing their bids for re-election. It's also being held despite the protests of three newly elected school directors who will take office Dec. 8 as well as protests from some current board members.

"To me, this is like the old board kicking sand in the face of the West Mifflin community," said Phil Shar, who will be sworn in next month.

Mr. Shar was fired as the girls' varsity basketball coach in June after getting into a public dispute with Mr. Risha and went on to win a write-in campaign for a seat on the board. He defeated incumbent Diana Olasz.

"I think it doesn't take a political genius to read the results of the primary and general election. The people voted them out because they are upset with the way the district has been run and they want a change," Mr. Shar said.

His write-in victory was confirmed by the Allegheny County Elections Division this week.

Tomorrow's vote on the appointment of Assistant Superintendent Janet Sardon as the district's new permanent superintendent comes on the heels of a vote taken last week to provide four other administrators with long-term contracts. Those contracts include severance payments that could total up to $156,650 if they are terminated.

Last week's vote was 5-4 in favor of granting the contracts.

Voting in favor were board President Ned Mervos, Vice President Albert Graham, Mrs. Olasz, Kathleen Bracco and Michael Jakubovic.

Those who opposed the contracts were Edward Schueler, John Donis, Michael Price and Richard Fialkovich.

The votes broke down along the same lines as in June when the board acted to replace Mr. Shar, who had coached the girls' high school basketball team for 17 years with one of his assistants.

A similar vote total is expected for the superintendent vote tomorrow.

Mr. Donis, one of the outgoing directors, said he voted against the long-term contracts because "I felt the new board should have the opportunity to do what they wanted."

Leaving the board with Mr. Donis and Mrs. Olasz are Michael Jakubovic and Mr. Schueler.

Taking office next month, in addition to Mr. Shar, will be Ted Cale, who won two seats -- one for a four-year term and one for a two-year term -- and Nick Alexandroff. The board will appoint a member to fill whichever term Mr. Cale declines.

Michael Price, who was appointed to the board this past year and then won a full term, said he is angry with his colleagues who voted for the long-term contracts and for forcing a vote tomorrow on the superintendent.

"I think it is reprehensible what these five are doing," Mr. Price said. "They are essentially shoving these things down our throats."

But Mr. Mervos said the reason the majority of the board decided to hold a vote to name Dr. Sardon as superintendent before the new board takes office is so "the programs of the district continue."

He said the district must move forward quickly with its plans to build a new middle school and get the project out to bid as soon as possible to take advantage of market conditions that have lowered construction costs.

In addition, he said, the district must find a middle school principal to replace David Deramo, who resigned last month to become principal of South Fayette Elementary School.

"This is not the first time in this district that a superintendent has been hired prior to a new board coming on and it is not the first time that contracts have been extended before new a board comes on," Mr. Mervos said.

Mr. Mervos said he knows the district's history better than most since he is a retired employee of the district who started as a teacher in 1958 and has been a school director for several terms.

The newly elected school directors said they are not questioning Dr. Sardon's credentials or her ability to do the job. But, they said, the hiring of a new superintendent should be done by the board that will work with that superintendent. Dr. Sardon has been assistant superintendent since January 2007.

She declined comment on the pending vote.

Mr. Cale, Mr. Alexandroff, Mr. Shar and Mr. Price all said that Dr. Sardon should be among the candidates considered for the permanent superintendent position.

However, they said they believe the board should conduct a search and open the position to applications from others. Dr. Sardon, they said, could serve as interim superintendent while the search is conducted.

"She's well-qualified and very capable and she should be interviewed and given consideration because she is within the school district already. But I would just like to see us advertise the position," Mr. Alexandroff said.

Mr. Price questioned the legality of a lame duck board appointing a new superintendent. He also said he plans to pursue legal challenges to the board's awarding of the long-term contracts last week -- as well as to the superintendent's contract if one is awarded tomorrow.

Stuart Knade, chief counsel for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, said it is legal for a lame duck school board to hire a new superintendent and to continue to conduct school district business until the day its members leave office.

"There is nothing about the happening of an election that takes away the powers of the people in office. It doesn't make a difference legally," Mr. Knade said.

He said the school code calls for a majority vote of a board's current members to hire a superintendent.

District solicitor Jack Cambest said new board members would have a difficult time trying to make a legal challenge to a superintendent's contract, if one is granted tomorrow, because the state school code provides for contracts for superintendents, assistant superintendents and business managers.

However, he said the school code does not provide for contracts for lower level administrators, such as those who received contracts or contract extensions last week.

Because of that, he said, the new board may be able to mount a legal challenge to those contracts. He also said that the cost of the challenge could be more than the severance.

Mr. Cale said he will look into whether the long-term contracts are legal, not because he is opposed to the employees who received them, but because he is worried about the district's finances.

He noted that the district has a $430,900 hole in its budget because of a portion of federal stimulus money the district expected but didn't receive.

"How can we lock ourselves into long-term contracts without that being discussed?" Mr. Cale asked.

Tomorrow's meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the council chambers of the West Mifflin borough building.

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