Cyber principal to head Cardinal O'Hara

A cyber-school principal has been hired to head Cardinal O'Hara High School, whose former principal - abruptly fired in November 2013 - recently settled a lawsuit with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Eileen Vice, an alumna of O'Hara who has worked at 21st Century Cyber Charter School in Downingtown since 2004, will replace Pete Balzano, who took over after the archdiocese dismissed Marie Rogai without explanation.

Vice will begin at the 1,300-student school July 1, the archdiocese said in a news release Wednesday.

She has never worked in a brick-and-mortar K-12 school, according to the work history provided by the archdiocese.

Balzano, a former associate superintendent in the Office of Catholic Education who was named in Rogai's lawsuit, resigned from the Delaware County school in March, the archdiocese said. Another administrator, Kelly Lanza, stepped in as an interim principal.

Balzano asked to resign "immediately," and it was his decision, archdiocese spokesman Ken Gavin said. Gavin did not say why Balzano left.

Rogai's attorney, Daniel McElhatton, said Wednesday that her case was settled in the last month but that he could not discuss the terms because of a confidentiality agreement.

The suit, filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, said Rogai was fired just five months after she was asked to be associate superintendent. At a Nov. 8 meeting with her bosses at which she was asked to resign, she was told she did not smile enough and was too direct, according to the suit.

She was fired three days later.

She maintained she was terminated for rebuffing unwanted advances from a school advisory board member. Arguing that her sudden termination implied misconduct, she asked for punitive and compensatory damages.

Gavin said he could not release details of the settlement.

In the news release, Carol Cary, superintendent of secondary schools for the archdiocese, touted Vice's "proven track record as a veteran educator and administrator as well as her direct connection to the O'Hara community."

School president Tom Fertal cited her technology background and said "her commitment to her faith and family, coupled with her status as an O'Hara alumna, give assurance that she will provide stable, ethical and long-term leadership for the school."

Vice graduated from O'Hara in 1989 and has a bachelor of arts degree in English from St. Joseph's University and a master's in education and an administrative certificate from Cabrini College, according to the archdiocese.

The archdiocese said she had been principal at 21st Century Cyber Charter School since 2004. But the school's human resources coordinator said Vice was a teacher and lead teacher who was promoted to principal in November.

Gavin said he would defer to the school. "Her CV indicates that she was in multiple positions there from 2004 to present," he said.

Vice also has been an adjunct professor at West Chester University and an instructor at Computer Learning Centers Inc. in Plymouth Meeting, an IT training school.

610-313-8232@kathyboccella