New Kensington-Arnold shuffles administrators, principals

Several New Kensington-Arnold School District administrators will be in new jobs starting July 1.

The school board approved an administrative realignment plan presented by Superintendent Chris Sefcheck.

Under the plan, Assistant Superintendent Jon Banko is becoming principal of Valley High School, taking the job now held by Pat Nee. Nee, in turn, is becoming assistant to the superintendent.

Tyler Roberto, a co-principal at Roy A. Hunt Elementary with Todd Kutchak, will be an assistant principal at the high school, joining Assistant Principal Jeffrey Thimons.

Joel Dolinski, dean of students at the high school, will be in the same position at Hunt.

All of their salaries remain the same, Sefcheck said.

Banko, who has been assistant superintendent for seven years, is returning to the job he first had at New Kensington-Arnold, having been high school principal for eight years. He started his career in the Southmoreland School District, where over 12 years he was a teacher and an assistant principal.

Banko served as acting superintendent following the resignation of John Pallone as superintendent in July 2020. He had sought the job, which was ultimately awarded to Sefcheck in April 2021.

Banko said he wanted to be a principal again and asked for the reassignment.

“I like my job. I like what I do,” he said. “A lot of central office administrators, their major complaint is you get disconnected from the kids. Most educators, we get into it because we like working with kids and we like seeing that immediate impact that you have.

“I thought it would be good to get back in the building,” he said. “I still have a few years until I can retire. I just felt like this would be a good opportunity for me.”

Nee did not respond to requests for comment. As assistant to the superintendent, Sefcheck said Nee will oversee human resources.

Roberto was hired at New Kensington-Arnold in October 2021 to replace Thomas Rocchi, who retired that year as principal of Hunt after 60 years in education. She’s been a co-principal there with Kutchak for the past two school years.

Roberto started her teaching career in 2006 as a substitute at Ellwood City Area. In 2008, she moved to Cleveland, where she taught eighth grade and third grade students before becoming a K-8 principal.

In 2016, she became dean of curriculum and instruction and then a K-8 principal with Propel Schools in McKeesport, followed by serving as a K-5 principal with Urban Pathways Charter School in Pittsburgh.

Wanting to move back into traditional public education took her to the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit, where she was an educational consultant for a year before coming to New Kensington-Arnold.

Roberto said she’s excited to join the administrative team at the high school.

“I was always open to moving into junior-senior high administration since I very much enjoyed all of my time working with seventh and eighth graders over the years and working alongside the high school principal in my district in Cleveland,” she said. “I had never considered the possibility that I would move to Valley. But when Dr. Sefcheck approached me for an initial conversation, I was both interested in and excited about the opportunity. I look forward to working with Mr. Banko and Mr. Thimons at Valley and building relationships with the staff and students there.”

Sefcheck said Banko got to select Roberto to be on his team. She will work alongside Thimons.

”Roberto was promoted to the high school because of her unique talents in regards to curriculum instruction and assessment and the need to improve academics at the high school,” Sefcheck said. “By doing so, we were able to move the dean of students, which is another administrative position, to Hunt with Mr. Kutchak.”

Banko said none of the changes should be looked at as demotions.

“Everybody’s role is important,” he said. “This is going to be a good opportunity for myself and Tyler and Pat to change our roles up a little bit and be more effective for the school district.”