Hempfield Area renews contracts for assistant superintendents

Hempfield Area’s assistant superintendents will remain in their roles for another three years following a contract extension approved by the school board Tuesday night.

Assistant superintendent of elementary education Kimberlie Rieffannnacht has been in the role since 2020. Her predecessor, Matthew Conner, has served as assistant superintendent of secondary education since Rieffannacht’s hiring.

In the 2025-26 school year, Rieffannacht will earn $165,385 and Conner will earn $176,104.

The focus for both administrators is on bolstering student learning.

“Elementary education, the biggest thing we need to accomplish is to have students read and learn how to read,” said Rieffannacht, who leads the district’s five elementary schools.

“That is one of our No. 1 priorities. That is a life skill that we start them out on and we help them with, especially in those elementary years.”

At the middle and high school level, Conner emphasized the importance of understanding and using new technology in the classroom.

“Artificial intelligence alone, you have to look at it and embrace it, because it’s not going away,” he said.

Engaging students, Conner said, has become more difficult in recent years.

“It’s just a tough time for trying to connect with students. There’s a lot of distractions. There’s a lot of opportunities for our kids,” he said, “and (we’re) trying to make sure that we are engaging and finding the right way to push every student … and (meet) their needs.”

High school renovation a focus

As the district presses forward with an overhaul of its high school facilities, Conner said the renovation project will play a role in student learning.

“When we talk about my primary focus, it’s around improving the student learning — mainly focusing on the instruction and assessment,” he said. “But right now, it’s definitely around the high school renovation project and how we can improve the facilities to improve student learning.”

The interior of the high school was proposed to be gutted and renovated, leaving most of the exterior intact with some additions. The project was estimated to take three years to complete.

But when bids for some of the work revealed the project’s cost had ballooned to almost $150 million — nearly $20 million more than expected — the renovation was put on hold in August of 2023.

Core Architects resigned from the project in February, after the district paid more than $2.4 million to the firm for its work.

The district later hired architect Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates to take over the project — working alongside SitelogIQ and owner’s rep McKinley Architecture and Engineering.

The project has made notable progress in recent months.

Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates laid out visions for the project at an Oct. 14 school board meeting, touching on improvement priorities and potential schematic designs.

A two-story addition to the building’s front entrance — slated as a center of innovation — will be a key component.

Hempfield borrowed about $100 million for the project. After using about $5 million for roof replacements and other urgent repairs at the high school, the remaining funds were invested.

The interest has generated about $8 million.

Decades of experience

Conner was hired as Hempfield’s assistant superintendent of elementary education in July 2017 — coming to the district with 11 years of experience as an administrator in the Burrell School District and five years as a teacher in the Butler area.

He was shifted to assistant superintendent of secondary education in 2020, when Rieffannacht — who worked 14 years as an educator at Huntingdon Area School District near State College — was hired to the elementary position.

Rieffannacht took the reins as interim superintendent in November 2024, when then-superintendent Tammy Wolicki announced a leave of absence.

Wolicki retired in January 2024. Rieffannacht continued to serve as interim superintendent until June, when current Superintendent Mark Holtzman was appointed.