In a 5-2 vote
at a special action meeting Monday night, the North Penn School Board of Directors moved ahead with a $21,500 consulting contract with Illinois-based education consulting and executive search firm
Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates to assist the district in conducting a search for a new superintendent.
Board Directors Juliane Ramic and Al Roesch voted against the proposal. Board Vice President Christian Fusco and Dr. Wanda Lewis-Campbell were absent from the meeting, which was held virtually at 5:15 p.m.
The proposal from the firm also includes related expenses.
There was no discussion from either the board or the public on the vote.
On Feb. 15,
Superintendent Dr. Curt Dietrich announced he was retiring in June after 12 years of leading the school district.
"With gratitude to this incredible school district, it is time for me to think about what awaits me outside of North Penn and thus I will be retiring at the end of my current contract on June 30, 2022,” he said in
a recorded video message during the monthly North Penn Right Now program, broadcast on North Penn Television. "I am making this announcement now so that our school community and its elected school board is provided ample time to plan its next steps for naming its next superintendent.”
Dietrich is the district’s longest-serving superintendent, joining North Penn 16 years ago in 2006 as assistant superintendent. He was appointed superintendent effective Feb. 15, 2010. His time as superintendent is longer than the average tenure of superintendents nationwide, which is about five years.
Before joining North Penn in 2006, Dietrich served 10 years as high school principal for the Saucon Valley School District in the Lehigh Valley. During that time, he was selected Principal of the Year for Pennsylvania by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
During his 40-plus years in education, Dietrich’s other positions have included assistant high school principal; chemistry, biology and general science teacher; and industry-education coordinator. In addition, he spent 16 years on the Northwestern Lehigh School Board (six years as president) and six years on the Lehigh County Vocational-Technical Career School Joint Operating Committee (two years as vice-chairman).
An undergraduate of Penn State University, Dietrich received his teacher certification from Cedar Crest College and his Master’s in Education and Doctor of Education from Lehigh University.
