River Valley School District Superintendent Phillip Martel has withdrawn his name from the running to be the superintendent of Chartiers Valley School District.
The sudden withdrawal of his application was announced at last night’s Chartiers Valley School Board meeting. Chartiers Valley’s superintendent had resigned in March, and Martell was to be hired last night for a five-year contract at an annual salary of $204,000.
While no official reason was given for his withdrawal, it came after parents in Chartiers Valley expressed concerns over Martel, chief among them was that he has never been an educator. Other concerns included his 2017 resignation as superintendent of the Connellsville school district after he spent district money for political campaign signs. He was also under investigation during his time in the West Mifflin School District for filing the same expense report multiple times, but that investigation was dropped when the money was paid back to the district.
Martel said the reason he withdrew was that he did not want to take part in partisan politics within the district.
He added that he will continue to make River Valley School District an exemplary school district and defend his past.
