Juliane Ramic led MCIU board during reported spending on safari
The North Penn School Board president has addressed her reported involvement in a spending scandal involving the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit.
Juliane Ramic, head of the MCIU board at the time of the spending in question, addressed the topic in the board’s most recent meeting.
“I do want to take a moment and pause and acknowledge to the community that I am aware of the article in the Philadelphia Inquirer,” said Ramic.
“As a board member, and as someone who is mentioned in that article, I am taking time, with my fellow board directors and key staff from the IU, to investigate items further. There were items that I was aware of, and items that I was not aware of,” she said.
In March, the Inquirer reported that a right-to-know request revealed the MCIU’s executive director and assistant executive director had used public funds to book roughly $40,000 worth of travel for professional development expenses since 2023, including trips to Africa, South Korea and Singapore, and the current MCIU board president vowed to “conduct a thorough review” and strengthen controls over such expenses.
Ramic was first appointed to North Penn’s board in 2018, then elected to four-year terms in 2019 and ’23, and served as the MCIU board president starting in 2022, during the time of some of the spending in question, before becoming North Penn’s board vice president in late 2024 and board president in November 2025 after two sudden departures.
After summarizing a February MCIU board meeting and that group’s recent activities, Ramic addressed the Inquirer report during the school board’s March action meeting.
“I do value the professional development for all staff, but also did recommend that travel expenses related to that should be returned, perhaps in the form of a contribution to the ed(ucational) foundation,” Ramic said.
“But it is something that we take very seriously, and I will continue to work on this matter,” she said.
Board member Al Roesch asked how North Penn’s board handles such professional development expenses, and said he felt “we have trust in our administrators, but the question had to be asked.”
Superintendent Todd Bauer said it depends on the level of administrator: each building and department has a budget for professional development, with supervisor approval required.
“There is a three-step process for approval in the North Penn School District: it would be your immediate supervisor for approval, then we have an administrator who oversees professional development at large,” Bauer said.
“And then ultimately there would be an approval from the cabinet-level administration,” he said, before giving examples: school principals would likely be vetted and approved by Assistant Superintendent D’Ana Waters, those for Waters would likely be approved by Bauer, and for Bauer would be approved by the school board president and vice president.
“My professional development (budget) does have a cap on it, that is pretty clearly outlined, a figure for the year — that would come to the board,” he said.
Ramic replied, “And we’re grateful to have that mentioned within your contract, and grateful for the advice to put that in.”
The next North Penn School Board meeting is at 6 p.m. on April 7. For more information, visit www.NPenn.org.
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