North Penn School Board President Cathy McMurtrie (Credit: NPSD)
The school board will consider the immediate resignation of Cathy McMurtrie and outline procedures for her appointment
The North Penn School Board will consider accepting two major resignations in the district Thursday night according the agenda, including its own president.
Under "Other Business" on the Thursday agenda, just prior to adjournment, the Board will consider the resignation of Cathy McMurtrie from the board of directors, effective immediately.
McMurtrie was named president at the January reorganization meeting. Her exodus from the board comes ahead of board colleagues Tina Stoll, Jonathan Kassa, and Christian Fusco leaving at the end of the year after not seeking re-election. Stoll and Fusco were voted as the new Montgomery Township and Towamencin Township tax collectors, respectively.
She was elected to the board in 2019 and her term expires in December 2027. The board of directors will likely accept submissions of interest and resumes from the public, perform on-record interviews at a public meeting, and then vote by majority to appoint McMurtrie's replacement, possibly by the end of the year.
The board will layout procedures for her new appointment at the Thursday meeting.
Juliane Ramić is the current board Vice President.
Dr. Peter Nicholson (Credit: npenn.org)Furthermore, the board will also accept the resignation of district Administrator of Secondary Education and Renovations Dr. Peter Nicholson III, who was hired in October 2013, effective, Jan. 5, 2026, according to the district's personnel agenda. Nicholson heads to Perkiomen Valley School District as assistant superintendent under Dr. Barbara Russell.
Most recently, Nicholson helped spearhead the failed North Penn High School referendum push and the current renovations at the high school and its aquatic center.
Nicholson's resignation will be part of a broad vote by the board to recommend approval of district personnel items, as part of Superintendent Dr. Todd Bauer's Superintendent's Report on the non-consent portion of the meeting.
A replacement for Nicholson has not been named in the personnel agenda.
At PVSD, Nicholson will be overseeing secondary level programming, high school and middle school leadership responsibilities, and will help oversee planned renovation projects.
According to his bio on the district website, Nicholson, a Quakertown Community High School and Ursinus College alum, previously served as the principal at North Penn High School for four years, after spending five years as an assistant principal for NPHS.
Previous to his time at North Penn, he spent 12 years in the Allentown School District where he served as a Health and Physical Education teacher, coached several sports, and was a middle school assistant principal. In 2008, he earned a Master's of Science in Educational Leadership and completed his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership through Wilkes University in 2024.
“Dr. Nicholson has served the North Penn School District as an assistant principal and principal at North Penn High School and most recently as the administrator of secondary education and renovation, overseeing our five secondary schools. For the last few years, he has been guiding the NPHS project from the instructional lens and helping to guide the transitions throughout the renovation," Bauer said in a statement Wednesday night. "Dr. Nicholson has served our school community with dignity and with students at the center of all of his work. We are thrilled for him and his family that he was appointed as the next assistant superintendent in Perk Valley, where we know he will continue to make an immense impact. On behalf of NPSD, I want to thank our colleague and friend for his commitment to our community and wish him all the best in this well deserved opportunity.”
McMurtrie was contacted for comment Wednesday afternoon and the story will be updated with her response.
