Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Anthony Hamlet resigns

Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Anthony Hamlet is resigning, effective Oct. 1, district officials said Wednesday.

The move comes after the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission found Hamlet violated the state’s Ethics Act with regard to travel expenses, accepting cash for speeches and failing to make required disclosures of financial interests between 2016 and 2018.

The commission released its findings Aug. 26 and ordered Hamlet to pay $5,000 — $3,250 to the district for use in the Pittsburgh Promise program and $1,750 to the ethics commission — and to forfeit 14 days of vacation time.

RELATED: Commission: Pittsburgh schools Superintendent Hamlet violated Ethics Act

Hamlet, who didn’t participate in Wednesday’s virtual news conference to announce his departure, initially called release of the ethics report “a great day for me personally.”

“With this review behind me, it looks like a fresh start,” he said on Aug. 26, when he attributed the violations to clerical errors and lack of ethics training.

After the report was released, Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb called for the school board to “make appropriate changes to leadership to allow the district to get back to the important business of focusing on student achievement.”

Shortly after Hamlet’s resignation was announced, Lamb, who also acts as controller of the school district, said “there are bright days ahead for the children and families of Pittsburgh Public Schools.”

“It is time to turn the page and move forward,” Lamb said.

Hamlet wasn’t forced to resign, school board President Sylvia Wilson said, but she added “this outcome is unfortunate, but necessary.”

It also eliminates “unrelated distractions” from the district’s focus on education, she said.

The board reviewed the ethics commission’s report with diligence and discussed its findings in detail, she said.

“We look forward to moving ahead, and keeping our students safe and engaged in their learning. The board would like to thank Dr. Hamlet for his five-plus years of service and wish him well,” Wilson said.

Here’s Hamlet’s resignation letter. pic.twitter.com/g2iRMupOAN

— Tom Davidson (@TribDavidson) September 8, 2021

Hamlet will receive a severance package of $399,687 in accordance with his contract and state law, district solicitor Ira Weiss said.

In the letter in which he submitted his resignation to the board, Hamlet called working in Pittsburgh “the great privilege of my career.”

“We have positioned this district to take great steps forward in our time together. Our collaboration and partnership have added tremendous value to my professional growth,” Hamlet wrote. “I believe that now is the time for my tenure to come to an end and to embark upon a new chapter of my professional life.”

Hamlet’s time in Pittsburgh has been marked by controversies since 2016, when he was hired. He replaced Linda Lane, who chose in 2015 not to renew her contract.

RELATED: Hamlet prepared to defend claims on resume to Pittsburgh Public Schools

He defended claims he embellished his resume. A report found the document to be fraught with errors, including plagiarism.

In 2019, then state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale launched an investigation into district administrators’ travel expenses and its awarding of more than $10 million in no-bid contracts.

In April 2019, Hamlet and four other district administrators traveled to Cuba without school board approval aboard The Flying Classroom — a program aiming to improve students’ science, technology engineering and math skills.

The trip should have been approved by the school board, but wasn’t, DePasquale found.

RELATED: Auditor general accuses Pittsburgh schools of ‘runaway travel costs’

In August 2020, the school board extended Hamlet’s contract through 2025, despite sometimes-contentious public hearings where residents were divided on Hamlet’s performance.

His salary was set at $236,350.86 this year and it would have grown to $265,996 in 2025, according to the contract.

RELATED: Pittsburgh’s school board reappoints superintendent for 4-year term

During the negotiations, Hamlet knew about the findings by the ethics commission, Lamb said.

The controller asked for the commission to investigate failed financial disclosures by Hamlet. Because of this, Lamb was regularly informed of the status of the investigation.

“At that point, he knew what the findings were,” Lamb said. “I think that’s kind of telling.”

Hamlet’s attorney, David Berardinelli, said they were under the impression that he wasn’t allowed to discuss the findings with the school board.

There is no such prohibition, Ethics Commission Executive Director Rob Caruso said.

The board will consider internal candidates to serve as interim superintendent, a post that will be filled at the Sept. 29 school board meeting, before a national search for a permanent replacement begins in December. The timing is intentional, Wilson said, to allow any new board members elected in November to participate in the process once the school board reorganizes.

“As the district moves forward, the board intends to assess and continue to address any additional internal controls referenced in the (ethics commission) report,” the district said in a statement.