Woodland Hills principal heads home to Aliquippa as superintendent

Woodland Hills High School is losing a principal, and the Aliquippa School District is gaining a new superintendent.

On Wednesday, the Aliquippa School Board unanimously voted to hire Phillip K. Woods, who grew up in Aliquippa, as its superintendent. He replaces Superintendent Peter Carbone. Woods has been principal at Woodland Hills High School since 2018.

His salary will be $132,000 annually for the first year of his contract, officials said.

“After much observation, prayer and reflection, I believe it is time for this chapter of my life to end and to begin a new one,” Carbone said during a school board meeting Wednesday. “I congratulate Dr. Woods as the new superintendent. I am here to support him in any way moving forward. Go Quips and God Bless.”

“As a community we have to make the right moves together to further this thing that we’re trying to do,” Woods told the board during Wednesday’s meeting. “I’m not telling you I have all the answers, but I’m telling you we’re working.”

Woods graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in education. He received his master’s degree and principal certification from Slippery Rock University.

Woods completed a doctorate of education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2017.

Before joining Woodland Hills, Woods served as a principal in the Penn Hills School District and as high school principal in the West Mifflin School District.

Woodland Hills hired Woods a year after Kevin Murray resigned as high school principal following several controversies involving treatment of students that led to a federal lawsuit against the district. Candee Nagy served as acting principal until Woods was hired.

In a farewell Facebook post to Woodland Hills, Woods wrote: “I cherish the time and partnerships that have been formed during my tenure at the Woodland Hills School District. It’s been a long time coming but it’s time to go home.”