New Kensington-Arnold's new superintendent eager to get started

After a second interview, Chris Sefcheck said he wanted the job of superintendent of the New Kensington-Arnold School District so much he didn’t care if it meant a longer commute.

He’ll start making that drive on July 1, after the school board hired him on Tuesday.

“I really already feel at home,” he said after the board voted. “The amount of potential here is completely untapped. We’re going to transform the way kids learn.”

The board voted 7-1 to hire Sefcheck, 52, of South Park for five years. His starting salary is $135,000.

Board member John Cope voted no; board member Eric Doutt was absent.

Sefcheck replaces John Pallone, who resigned at the end of July.

He was one of 16 applicants for the job, board President Tim Beckes said. Of those, seven were considered in a first round of interviews, from which three finalists were selected.

Sefcheck is coming to New Kensington-Arnold from the Bethlehem-Center School District in Washington County, where he has been superintendent for three years.

A Uniontown native, Sefcheck has worked in education for 24 years, beginning as a science teacher in Las Vegas. He taught briefly at Laurel Highlands before becoming a high school principal, first in the Frazier School District and then at West Jefferson Hills.

He served eight years in the military, working in logistics management in the Air Force and later the Pennsylvania National Guard.

“I really feel like I was surrounded by great leaders who taught me how to motivate, problem-solve and think critically,” he said. “I learned how to work in difficult situations, some of them with seemingly impossible answers that we were always able to solve; to be resilient; and to work hard and be as upfront and open and collaborative with people as I can be.”

Sefcheck and his wife of seven years have two sons and two daughters. He said he has cousins, nephews and nieces who live in New Kensington.

“With family in the area, I feel like I’m a good fit,” he said.

Sefcheck said it was after that second interview at New Kensington-Arnold that he knew he wanted to be there.

“I never had an interview that was as positive and warming as with that board,” he said. “I think they really, really want to do great things in the district, and I’m excited to work with them to do that.”

With just under 2,000 students, New Kensington-Arnold is about twice the size of Bethlehem-Center, which Sefcheck said has about 1,200 students.

“I tried to be myself through the entire process,” Sefcheck said. “I felt really lucky I made it to the second round (of interviews). During the second round, I really connected with the board. It was one of the most comprehensive and thought-provoking interview processes I’ve ever been through.”

Having just bought a home in South Park, Sefcheck could not say if his family would move to the district.

“I don’t know what the future is going to hold there,” he said. “I never close the door on anything.”

Jon Banko, the district’s former assistant superintendent, has been serving as acting superintendent since Pallone left. Banko applied for the superintendent post and had been among the seven candidates chosen for a first round of interviews in March.

Banko will remain with the district as assistant superintendent, Beckes said.

“I don’t have any plans to leave,” Banko said. “Unless otherwise directed by the board, I will continue as the assistant superintendent through the remaining two years of my contract.”

The school board in December approved paying the Pennsylvania School Boards Association up to $13,000 to help it conduct the search for a new district leader.

The final total cost is not yet known, Business Manager Jeff McVey said.