Jan 30, 2015 By Cara Host 3 min read

New principals will soon be at the helm at four schools in Bethel Park after the school board made several personnel changes at its Jan. 27 meeting.

Three principals, Nicole Morris at William Penn Elementary, Robert Garvey at Franklin Elementary and Michael Brookie at Neil Armstrong Middle School, have resigned. Dr. Dorothy Stark previously split her duties as director of elementary education and principal at Lincoln Elementary, but she will drop her role as principal and focus solely on curriculum issues.

Board member Pamela Dobos expressed concern over the financial impact of transferring Stark to the administration building. Other directors noted that additional state regulations have led to an increased workload for the directors of both secondary and elementary education and that a change was prudent.

“I appreciate all the work that you do,” Dobos told Stark. “But I’m not convinced this is a necessary change or one that we can afford.”

To replace the four departing principals, the school board both promoted from within and hired two from outside the district.

“I can’t be happier about the people we have coming in,” said board member David Amaditz.

Jay Johnson, who now works as the assistant high school principal, will become principal at Lincoln Elementary. Brian Lenosky, director of cyber and alternative learning, will add principal of William Penn Elementary to his job title.

Kenneth Patterson of Canonsburg will be the new principal at Neil Armstrong Middle School. He works as principal of grades 7-9 in Washington School District. He previously worked as a principal for the Prevention Network’s CLASS Academy and Signore Center and started his career as an English and social studies teacher in Virginia.

Teresa Doumont of Burgettstown will be principal at Franklin Elementary. She works as principal of Alloway Creek Intermediate School in Littlestown School District, Adams County. She previously worked as an elementary teacher, reading specialist and math and science specialist at Fort Cherry School District.

Joseph Rosi, an administrative intern at the school district, was promoted to interim assistant principal at Neil Armstrong Middle School. He will serve in that capacity until the district finds a permanent candidate.

Bethel Park plans to hire a new superintendent, but a change in the top administrator post will not happen immediately, since Superintendent Nancy Aloi Rose will delay her retirement and the school board extended her contract. Rose was supposed to retire at the end of the school year.

“It’s a little change of plans for me, but it’s hard to say no to this board,” she said.

Board member Connie Ruhl predicted it would be a long process to find the right candidate to serve as the district’s top administrator and she was pleased the district would not have to hire multiple interim superintendents while the search continued.

In another matter, the board approved a preliminary budget, but noted that it is too early to determine whether a tax increase will be necessary. The budget of $84.1 million will likely change from now until the board approves a final spending plan in June.