Lawyer for Philadelphia School System Resigns
Jun. 30–The Philadelphia school system swirled with rumors following the announcement yesterday that the district’s general counsel had resigned.
General counsel Wendy Beetlestone will depart Aug. 5 to become a partner in the law firm of Hangley, Aronchick, Segal and Pudlin, school district spokesman Vincent Thompson said.
Beetlestone’s departure follows that of several other high-profile administrators, prompting rumors that the district’s chief executive, Paul Vallas, himself would quit.
“Mr. Vallas has indicated strongly to everyone that he is going to remain the CEO of the School District of Philadelphia,” at least until his current contract runs out June 30, 2007, Thompson said.
Vallas was on vacation and could not be reached for comment yesterday. Beetlestone told Vallas of her departure Tuesday, and yesterday informed the School Reform Commission.
The rumors heated up earlier this month when a court petition was filed to have Vallas declared a resident of Illinois, in advance of next year’s governor’s race there.
Vallas, who ran Chicago’s public schools from 1995 to 2001, lost the Democratic nomination for Illinois governor by a thin margin in 2002.
Beetlestone said she was leaving the district because she had accomplished what she set out to do, overhauling the district’s legal department. She said she’s been able to expand the legal department to 19 attorneys.
This has meant the district could fight lawsuits, “instead of settling cases because we don’t have the money to fight them,” Beetlestone said. The district paid out $3.5 million in settlements in 2001, but by last year the figure was down to $700,000, Thompson said.
Beetlestone said Vallas knew from “day one” that she eventually would leave, but she had given him a three-year commitment. She said the reforms in the school system made it “an exciting place to be.”
Among other recent departures from the district are Tim Spreitzer, a key Vallas aide who is going to work for state Rep. Dwight Evans; Creg Williams, who ran the city’s secondary- schools office and now is superintendent of St. Louis schools; and the district’s chief financial officer, Michael Harris, who left to work for the University of Pennsylvania.
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