Incoming Hempfield Area School District Superintendent Mark Holtzman is keenly aware of the stalled high school renovation project.

“The large construction project that’s been kind of looming over the last couple of years really needs to take shape,” he said. “I think kind of orchestrating and getting those things tied together, and starting to understand what the project looks like, and what is holding up the project, (is a priority).”

The school board hired Holtzman Wednesday. He is currently superintendent for the Beaver Area School District, and will begin a five-year contract at Hempfield July 1.

Board President Jerry Radebaugh said Holtzman will be paid $208,000 plus a $2,000 doctoral stipend annually.

The district chose from 15 candidates gathered through an application process facilitated by education consultant Peter D’Arcangelo. The vote was unanimous.

The high school renovation project has been on hold since August, when bids for some of the proposed work revealed the project’s cost had ballooned to almost $150 million, nearly $20 million more than expected. The original architect, Core Architects, has since resigned and a new architect, Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates of Mechanicsburg, was named April 22.

Holtzman said his initial priorities are the high school project, working with the district’s finances and budgets and building good relationships with the staff.

He expects to regularly communicate with school principals on topics such as student discipline, and to focus on safety and security.

“It’s about leading our leaders — leading our principals, making sure they have the tools in their toolbox necessary to be effective leaders, and create great cultures in their schools,” he said, calling upon his own experience as a former high school principal.

A North Huntingdon resident, Holtzman has been superintendent at Beaver since 2022, He was superintendent of the McKeesport school district from 2017 to 2022 after rising through other administrative roles there including dean of students.

Holtzman is filling the vacancy left by former Hempfield superintendent Tammy Wolicki, who announced her retirement in January following an extended leave of absence.

Kimberlie Rieffannacht, the assistant superintendent for elementary education, will continue to serve as interim superintendent through June 30, and then return to her previous role.

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