A legal battle between Lehighton Area School District and its former superintendent may be coming to an end, according to a proposed settlement up for a vote Monday night.

Jonathan Cleaver, who had his contract terminated in December 2021, would receive $30,000 in exchange for ending his lawsuit alleging breach of contract against the district and seven individual board members who voted for his ousting.

The dispute revolved around the interpretation of contract terms, specifically the distinction between “contract extensions” and “contract renewals.” Cleaver’s lawyer, Catherine Rowe, argued that the board’s assertion that Cleaver, now superintendent in Bloomsburg Area School District, received “extensions” rather than “renewals” over the years was invalid. According to Rowe, the misinterpretation violated the school code and the terms of the contract between Cleaver and the district.

The district and the individual board members named in the lawsuit filed preliminary objections in Carbon County Court and sought to have it dismissed, but the objections were denied.

According to the proposed settlement, the district’s insurer, CM Regent Insurance Company, will pay Cleaver $30,000 to resolve the complaint and claims he made. The district, the document states, will not use its funds for the settlement.

Cleaver would be responsible for covering his attorney fees and costs.

“The settlement and execution of the agreement do not constitute an admission of liability on behalf of the defendants,” the settlement states.

Directors named in the lawsuit include Joy Beers, Barbara Bowes, Walter Zlomsowitch, Jeremy Glaush, Richard Beltz, April Walker and Kerry Sittler.

Cleaver was hired under a three-year contract with Lehighton on June 18, 2012, running until June 30, 2015.

Jeff Sultanik, attorney for Fox Rothschild, which represents the district, said it is his understanding of PDE policy and school code that the state allows for “contract extensions,” but requires a “contract renewal” after a maximum of five years have passed. That contract renewal would again be required to be three to five years in length.

Lehighton prepared a memorandum of understanding dated Dec. 24, 2014, to give Cleaver an “extension” through the 2017-18 school year. According to the resolution in 2021 the district’s current legal firm, Fox Rothschild, deemed that extension violated school code because the state does not allow you to “extend” an original contract term past five years. It, according to Sultanik, should have been termed a “contract renewal.”

“This was a completely illegal and unauthorized action of the LASD,” Fox Rothschild wrote in the resolution.

Fox Rothschild also advised the school board that subsequent contract extensions for Cleaver in 2017 and 2021 were also illegal.

Rowe, however, contended that a superintendent’s removal can only occur following a hearing and a majority vote based on specific causes, including neglect of duty, incompetency, intemperance, or immorality. According to her, none of these requirements were met in Cleaver’s case.

Cleaver was set to make $147,900 in the 2021-22 school year.