Hempfield Area board to vote on temporary superintendent

Hempfield Area School Board members are expected to vote Wednesday to name a temporary superintendent for the district.

An agenda posted Tuesday for a special board meeting on Wednesday indicated the board may name the district’s current assistant superintendent for elementary education, Kimberlie Rieffannacht, to the position.

Bob Reger, the district’s director of human resources, said Superintendent Tammy Wolicki is taking a leave of absence and is scheduled to return on Jan. 5. He confirmed Wolicki is not leaving the district.

The agenda includes an item to approve “employee #1381” for a paid leave of absence effective Oct. 23 through tentatively Jan. 4, but does not specify the employee’s name.

Rieffannacht, who joined the district in October 2020, would start her new role on Thursday and serve through Jan. 4. The agenda notes her terms and conditions of employment would remain unchanged from her current contract with the district.

“I am going into this role as willing to serve our community and do what we need to have done for the next few weeks,” Rieffannacht said Tuesday. She declined to discuss specifics.

School board member Tony Bompiani said Rieffannacht is “very qualified.”

“I think she is going to run the district very well,” Bompiani said. “We won’t miss a beat with her. We are going to miss Tammy, but Kim is qualified.”

Wolicki could not be reached for comment Tuesday. She was first appointed as Hempfield’s superintendent in 2017. Her contract was renewed by the district in 2021 and runs through June 2027.

She joined the district in 1992 as an elementary teacher, also serving as an assistant principal at Wendover Middle School, principal of Stanwood and East Hempfield Elementary schools, and assistant superintendent for elementary education. She also held leadership roles at Greensburg Salem and Fox Chapel Area school districts.