BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Jack Silva announced Monday that he will retire effective July 1, concluding a 40-year career in public education, including three years leading the district where he grew up.
Silva notified the Board of School Directors of his decision on Feb. 23, one day before the district publicly announced the retirement. He will continue to serve as superintendent through June 30.
The board plans to hire a search firm to find Silva’s successor and expects to announce details in the coming weeks, district spokeswoman Jennifer LoConte said.
The search will include community input at multiple points, she said, and the board’s goal is to have a new superintendent in place by July 1.
Upon his 2023 appointment, Silva was awarded a five-year contract with an annual salary of $220,000. His retirement will come two years before the expiration of that contract in June 2028.
LoConte said Silva’s decision was “simply a reflection that the time is right for him to move on to the next chapter of his life.”
“Serving the Bethlehem Area School District has been the greatest honor of my professional life,” Silva said. “I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished together and remain confident in the district’s future.”
Board President Michael Faccinetto praised Silva’s tenure, citing strengthened academic programs, deeper community partnerships and sound fiscal management.
Dr. Silva has led the Bethlehem Area School District with integrity, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to students,” Faccinetto said.
He added that Silva is entitled to all retirement benefits outlined in his contract, but will not be paid out the remaining years’ salary since he is retiring
A career rooted in Bethlehem
Silva attended Fountain Hill Elementary School, Broughal Middle School and Liberty High School, graduating in 1982. Both of his children also graduated from Bethlehem schools.
He began his teaching career in the mid-1980s as a social studies teacher in the Central Bucks School District before spending 24 years in the Souderton Area School District in Montgomery County, where he served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal and director of K-12 education.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Penn State, his master’s from Kutztown University and his doctorate from Lehigh.
Silva joined BASD in 2010 as assistant superintendent and chief academic officer under then-Superintendent Joseph Roy.
He served in that role for 13 years before the board unanimously appointed him superintendent in April 2023, effective that July.
Reading initiative
In 2015, 56 percent of BASD third-graders scored proficient on the state reading test. As chief academic officer, Silva led the district’s shift from balanced literacy to a phonics-based approach grounded in the science of reading. The effort was featured in the 2018 APM Reports investigation “Hard Words.”
By 2018, 84 percent of district kindergartners met or exceeded benchmark reading scores, with three schools reaching 100 percent.
The initiative, branded “Reading by Grade 3,” led to Silva’s induction into the national Grade-Level Reading Council of Champions through the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley.
Silva’s stated priorities included literacy and math achievement, chronic absenteeism reduction and equity.
He also expanded community partnerships, including with Lehigh University on a community schools model in South Bethlehem and with Moravian University on a superintendent’s scholarship program now in its 10th year.
Persistent challenges
Despite the early literacy gains, district-wide proficiency on state tests has remained low. According to 2022-23 state test data, 49 percent of BASD students tested proficient in reading and 27 percent in math. The district ranked 473rd out of 678 Pennsylvania school districts based on combined proficiency.
Chronic absenteeism has also persisted. More than 27 percent of students — about 3,500 — were habitually truant in the 2022-23 school year, according to data reported by former Superintendent Roy. At Donegan Elementary, the truancy rate reached 41 percent.
In 2023, Silva said the district’s community schools were working to reduce absences but acknowledged the district was falling short of its goals. “We’re not hitting that five,” he said, referring to the district’s target of no more than five absences per student per year. “We’re trying.”
Silva’s tenure also coincided with budget pressures. The district faced a nearly $10 million deficit in its 2025-26 budget, leading the board to approve a 4.3 percent property tax increase — the second consecutive year of increases after a five-year stretch without one.
The district also eliminated 20 positions, largely through attrition, and drew $5.9 million from its fund balance. The ongoing state budget impasse left the district nearly $30 million short of expected state funding.
When Silva took office in 2023, the Bethlehem chapter of the NAACP publicly criticized his appointment of Maureen Leeson as assistant superintendent over Benita Draper, the district’s director of equity initiatives, who is Black.
NAACP President Esther Lee said the district had waited too long for African American representation in senior leadership. Silva said the decision was not about race and that he had offered Draper a different leadership role.
What’s next
The Bethlehem Area School District is the sixth-largest in Pennsylvania, serving nearly 13,000 students across 22 schools in five municipalities: the city of Bethlehem, Bethlehem Township, Hanover Township, Freemansburg and Fountain Hill.
Silva’s departure will mark the second superintendent transition for the district in three years. Roy retired in 2023 after 13 years in the role.
At that time, the board did not conduct a public search and instead appointed Silva directly.
This time, the board said it will use a search firm and seek community input.
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