LOWER MERION – The Lower Merion School District has an acting superintendent.
At the most recent meeting, the school board appointed Megan Shafer as its acting superintendent. She is expected to remain in the position until the board selects a new permanent superintendent.
Shafer replaces Steven M. Yanni, who is leaving the district to become superintendent at the Central Bucks School District in Bucks County.
Yanni’s decision to leave Lower Merion came after he was with Lower Merion for less than one year.
“Tonight, the board will take action to appoint Ms. Shafer as the acting superintendent,” Yanni said. “One of the things that I am extremely grateful for was Megan’s partnership over the last year and over the partnership of the entire cabinet as I transitioned into this role and transitioned out of the role in just a few days.”
Shafer has been with the district since 2011 and formerly worked with the school district’s solicitor’s firm.
In May, the district announced it was hiring a search firm to replace Yanni permanently.
In January 2023, Shafer was also named acting superintendent after Khalid Mumin left the district when he was appointed the state’s education secretary. She served in that position until July 2023 when Yanni started at the permanent superintendent.
“Ms. Shafer is a cum laude graduate of Denison University and the Temple University School of Law. She began her career in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, before moving on to work in labor and employment law and in education law, first at Morgan, Lewis, Bockius LLP and then at Wisler Pearlstine LLP. She served as LMSD’s Director of Human Resources and Senior Director of Policy, Personnel, and School Programs prior to assuming her current position,” according to biographical information on the district’s website.
