Former Franklin Regional superintendent tapped as consultant to find new leader at Hempfield Area

Hempfield Area School District’s superintendent search is officially on.

The district board tapped education consultant Peter Emery D’Arcangelo to begin its search for a new district leader to replace Tammy Wolicki.

Wolicki announced her retirement Jan. 22, following an extended leave of absence. Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education Kimberlie Rieffannacht is serving as interim superintendent through June 30.

According to the agreement approved at Monday’s board meeting, D’Arcangelo will be paid $100 per hour for work on the superintendent search, with a maximum cost not to exceed $12,500.

D’Arcangelo retired in 2013 as superintendent of Franklin Regional School District. This month, D’Arcangelo resigned as interim superintendent and search consultant for Leechburg Area School District.

Hempfield school board president Jerry Radebaugh said the district is searching statewide for candidates.

The application process is also open for district staff to apply, he said.

Rieffannacht declined to comment on whether she would apply for the position.

Bus switch-up

Hempfield Area will also have new transportation for the 2024-25 school year.

On Feb. 12, board members awarded the low bid for student transportation to DMJ Transportation Inc. following a request for proposals ahead of the end of current bus company First Student’s contract.

“It was just the natural time frame for the contract to run out,” Radebaugh said. “We went off of how the bids came in.”

The same amount of bus routes should be available in the fall, and bus routes should remain the same, unless DMJ comes to the district with recommendations on how to reorganize the bus system, Radebaugh said.

“Everything should be remaining pretty much exactly the same as it is right now, just with a different company,” he said.

The district is still in the early stages of contract review with DMJ, Rieffannacht said.

“Once we have that finalized, we’ll start the transition process,” she said. “We haven’t gotten to that point yet.”

In September, First Student struggled to field substitutes to fill in for four regular Hempfield drivers who were out sick, resulting in disruptions to at least three bus routes.

At the time, according to district officials, First Student staffed 44 full-sized buses and 15 smaller buses, with an average ridership of 46 students per bus. The district also contracted with DMJ previously, mostly for special education buses.