State Auditor General Jack Wagner's audit faults the Mount Lebanon School District, calling the nearly half-million-dollar buyout of former superitendent Margery Sable's five-year contract troubling and costly.

Mystery still surrounds exactly what is behind the former superintendent's contract buyout after only 16 months.

Wagner faults the district for keeping the reasons secret, but his audit wasn't able to shake loose any details.

Wagner's audit says when his office pressed the district for answers, its attorney worried Sable would sue the district if it violated the confidentiality clause of the separation agreement, which she would not waive.

The most the district would tell the auditor general was that the parties "had different views concerning the administration and operation of the district," and that "one of the several areas of disagreement was management style."

The Mount Lebanon School District says it spent "several months of efforts to resolve those issues." But, that "significant differences... on many major issues were beginning to… result in harm to the school district and its programs."

Wagner said the Mount Lebanon School District's explanation just raises more questions, including what was the "harm to the district."

The school district responded that it notes the audit does not cite it with any violations of state law, regulations, or procedures. The district also says that the audit admits that a lawsuit over a dismissal may have cost more than the separation agreement.

A full copy of the report is available at the Department of the Auditor General's Web site, www.auditorgen.state.pa.us.