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Solicitor: Superintendent on 3-Month Leave
School board will decide how to proceed ‘in the coming weeks’
By Adam Reinherz
The Tube City Almanac
August 16, 2024
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Tube City Almanac file photo by Adam Reinherz)
McKeesport Area School District’s superintendent is on leave at her own request, the district’s solicitor said Friday.
In response to questions from Tube City Almanac about the status of Superintendent Tia Wanzo, district solicitor Gary Matta said, “Dr. Wanzo has requested to take a leave of absence. She is on leave effective August 14, 2024.”
Wanzo asked for a three-month leave, according to the solicitor.
The board has not yet approved an acting superintendent, he said. “Mr. [Matthew] Mols is currently the assistant to the superintendent and is the next in line until the board appoints an acting superintendent.”
How the board proceeds from here will be determined “in the coming weeks,” Matta said in an email.
Mols recently returned to the district. He previously served as assistant principal and director of the Career & Technology Center at McKeesport Area High School before leaving to become principal of the high school in Washington, Pa.
Questions about district leadership began swirling days ago. On Tuesday, community members voiced support for Wanzo both during and after the regular school board meeting.
“I've had the privilege as a police officer to work side by side with her for over a decade, and I'll tell you, there's nobody more fit to run the school. I support her 100 percent,” McKeesport resident Julian Thomas said during a hearing of citizens.
Outside the district building Tuesday evening, McKeesport resident Seasons Williams said Wanzo has “done a good job serving the community, along with supporting the parents, the teachers and the students who have graduated.”
Following Tuesday’s meeting, Matta said he was puzzled by the comments expressed. “There's no action item against the superintendent,” Matta said.
At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, board president Mark Holtzman said the superintendent’s contract is “in place.”
Both on Thursday evening and throughout Friday, Holtzman did not return requests for comment about the superintendent situation. Neither did Wanzo.
Adam Reinherz is a Pittsburgh-based writer. He can be reached at adam.reinherz@gmail.com
Originally published August 16, 2024.
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