Belle Vernon votes to hire controversial former Plum superintendent

The Belle Vernon Area School District voted Tuesday evening to hire former Plum superintendent Timothy Glasspool.

Some parents at the school board meeting voiced opposition to the decision, citing a grand jury report that condemned Plum School District officials following a sexual assault scandal involving a former teacher, according to Tribune-Review news partner WTAE.

The board voted 8-1 to hire Glasspool.

Glasspool resigned from Plum in 2017 in the wake of a teacher-student sex scandal. The grand jury report did not recommend any criminal charges against Glasspool or other Plum administrators, but did blame school administrators for passively allowing years of inappropriate conduct between teachers and female students.

“There is a moral issue here and that is what concerns me,” said Rostraver Township resident Rebecca Roberts at the board meeting, according to WTAE.

Glasspool said during the school board meeting on Tuesday that “some of the issues that happened in Plum weren’t necessarily my fault, but they were my responsibility.”

In a statement, the Belle Vernon School Board said that Glassport has been open about information involving the grand jury report and other information about his tenure at Plum, according to WTAE.

“Dr. Glasspool has been forthright with this information and the tragic events in the Plum Borough School District during his tenure,” said the statement. “The Board appreciates his openness and believes he is the right person to lead Belle Vernon Area School District.”

Belle Vernon Area School District covers parts of Westmoreland County and Fayette County including Rostraver Township, Belle Vernon, North Belle Vernon, Lynnwood-Pricedale, Fayette City, and Washington Township.

Glasspool was serving as the superintendent of Penncrest School District in Crawford County.

He will earn a salary of $155,000, and he starts on Oct. 2.