New AIU executive director begins tenure

The Allegheny Intermediate Unit’s new executive director began his four-year term this week as schools across the county work to reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robert Scherrer, who began his tenure Monday, takes over an agency that supports and provides specialized services to Allegheny County’s 42 suburban school districts as well as nonpublic, charter and vocational-technical schools as they prepare to welcome back students for the first time since March.

“This school year will be unlike any other that we have experienced before,” Mr. Scherrer said in a statement. “The COVID-19 pandemic impacts every aspect of a school system. I look forward to working with education leaders throughout the county as we continue to coordinate our efforts on behalf of the children, youth and families whom we serve.”

Before Mr. Scherrer joined the AIU, he served as the superintendent and assistant superintendent for K-12 education at the North Allegheny School District.

He was also principal of the Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy and Allderdice High School in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, an assistant principal and co-principal for curriculum and instruction in the Woodland Hills School District, and an assistant principal at Peters Township High School.

He began working in education as a secondary educator at Baldwin High School in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District.

Mr. Scherrer received his superintendent’s letter of eligibility and a doctorate in administrative and policy studies from the

University of Pittsburgh, where his dissertation focused on teacher evaluation. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business education and his principal’s certification from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

The AIU board appointed Mr. Scherrer as the agency’s executive director in February.