Terri Lawson is no longer the president of the Woodland Hills School Board after a unanimous vote to accept her resignation from the role on Wednesday night. The board met publicly for the first time since Lawson was charged last week for allegedly misusing funds during her time as the Rankin Borough Manager. Lawson’s attorney Phil DiLucente told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reporter Jordan Cioppa why she decided to step down from the board leadership role. “It takes a lot of time out of your schedule. There’s a lot of duties. There’s a lot more than just being a board member. And I think for dual purposes, one because of the time constraint, but also because of the situation that’s at hand,” DiLucente said. “So, she’s being respectful, but she wants to continue to give back to the public just like she always has for the last 30 years.”Lawson still holds her position as a board member, however as of Wednesday, she faces a potential censure. The board voted in favor of creating a resolution to censure Lawson, who was the only member to vote no. The motion passed and the censure vote will take place during the next board meeting, according to the district’s solicitor. “I would suggest a censure similar to what was done to Miss Reed a few years ago, removing access in light of these recent events to her school email, grounds, etc,” said Swissvale Borough Council President Christopher Ansell during public comment before the censure vote. Other community members who spoke out wanted to see the board take further action against Lawson. “I would like to see Terri voted out of this board, according to state law, there is the ability to do that,” said Woodland Hills parent Natalie Watson. “That’s also part of the Woodland Hills policy, whenever someone that has the trust of the community does something like this or is at least accused of something like this.” Rep. Abigail Salisbury posted to social media during the meeting, revealing that her calls for a state audit on the district had been fulfilled. In a letter to Woodland Hills Acting Superintendent Dr. Jean Livingston, the Pennsylvania Office of the Budget stated it will perform an audit on the district from January 2022 through this week. “I’m excited about it, but I think that we should also go further. I think we need some sort of entity that can look into our district bank accounts,” said board member Darnika Reed. The district’s solicitor read a statement denying any financial misappropriations within the district. Karen Lyons was voted in as the new board president. Dr. Cynthia Wallace became the new board vice president.
PITTSBURGH —
Terri Lawson is no longer the president of the Woodland Hills School Board after a unanimous vote to accept her resignation from the role on Wednesday night.
The board met publicly for the first time since Lawson was charged last week for allegedly misusing funds during her time as the Rankin Borough Manager.
Lawson’s attorney Phil DiLucente told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reporter Jordan Cioppa why she decided to step down from the board leadership role.
“It takes a lot of time out of your schedule. There’s a lot of duties. There’s a lot more than just being a board member. And I think for dual purposes, one because of the time constraint, but also because of the situation that’s at hand,” DiLucente said. “So, she’s being respectful, but she wants to continue to give back to the public just like she always has for the last 30 years.”
Lawson still holds her position as a board member, however as of Wednesday, she faces a potential censure.
The board voted in favor of creating a resolution to censure Lawson, who was the only member to vote no.
The motion passed and the censure vote will take place during the next board meeting, according to the district’s solicitor.
“I would suggest a censure similar to what was done to Miss Reed a few years ago, removing access in light of these recent events to her school email, grounds, etc,” said Swissvale Borough Council President Christopher Ansell during public comment before the censure vote.
Other community members who spoke out wanted to see the board take further action against Lawson.
“I would like to see Terri voted out of this board, according to state law, there is the ability to do that,” said Woodland Hills parent Natalie Watson. “That’s also part of the Woodland Hills policy, whenever someone that has the trust of the community does something like this or is at least accused of something like this.”
Rep. Abigail Salisbury posted to social media during the meeting, revealing that her calls for a state audit on the district had been fulfilled.
In a letter to Woodland Hills Acting Superintendent Dr. Jean Livingston, the Pennsylvania Office of the Budget stated it will perform an audit on the district from January 2022 through this week.
“I’m excited about it, but I think that we should also go further. I think we need some sort of entity that can look into our district bank accounts,” said board member Darnika Reed.
The district’s solicitor read a statement denying any financial misappropriations within the district.
Karen Lyons was voted in as the new board president. Dr. Cynthia Wallace became the new board vice president.