Ligonier Valley taps McKeesport Area administrator as new superintendent

Matthew Mols called it “bittersweet” to leave the school district.

By JEFF HIMLER
TribLive

Matthew Mols, assistant superintendent at McKeesport Area School District, is set to take on the role of superintendent at Ligonier Valley School District.

Ligonier Valley School Board at a special Wednesday meeting voted unanimously to hire Mols under a five-year contract, with a starting base salary of $160,000.

Mols was selected from two finalists in a field of 17 applicants for the post, according to Peter Emery D’Arcangelo, who has served as interim Ligonier Valley superintendent since March. D’Arcangelo also headed the search for a new superintendent.

“The board liked Matt’s experience,” D’Arcangelo said. “His personality, they think, will mesh well with the administrative team. We think he’ll fit in well with the community.”

Mols’ “vision, expertise and dedication to students make him an outstanding choice to guide our schools in the years ahead,” said school board President Donald Gilbert.

Mols’ career in education includes more than 20 years of service at McKeesport Area, his alma mater.

He served as assistant to the superintendent beginning in July 2024. That’s when he returned to the district after a stint as head principal of Washington High School in Washington County.

He was named assistant superintendent at McKeesport Area in January, after he obtained his superintendent’s letter of eligibility.

Mols’ previous roles at McKeesport Area included history teacher at the high school and middle school levels, high school guidance counselor and assistant principal at multiple school buildings. He also served as the McKeesport Area Career and Technology Center director.

“I’m committed to work collaboratively with educators, families and students to ensure every child has an opportunity to thrive,” Mols told the Ligonier Valley School Board on Wednesday.

Mols told TribLive he was attracted to the top administrative post at Ligonier Valley because he was impressed by the district’s reputation.

“These folks are very passionate about their community,” he said.

“Nothing about me leaving (McKeesport Area) is sour grapes,” Mols said. “It’s bittersweet. They’ve been very good to me.”

Mols acknowledged he may need to make an adjustment transferring to more rural Ligonier Valley from suburban McKeesport Area — which is nearly three times as large, with a student enrollment of more than 3,000. But, he said, he has the advantage of his experience at the Washington school district, which is more similarly sized.

Mols said he is in tune with the Ligonier Valley board’s emphasis on the need for communication among district staff, parents and students.

“I tend to be a good listener based upon my skill set as a mental health professional,” he said. “Sometimes people just want to be heard.”

He holds two master’s degrees, in school counseling and educational leadership.

Balancing the need for school and athletic facility updates with taxpayer concerns is among issues Mols and the school board will face, according to D’Arcangelo.

“Our buildings are in good shape, but we have doors that need replaced,” D’Arcangelo said. “There are routine things that need to be done.”

While construction is underway on an improved baseball field at the high school, he noted the district is applying for state funding for proposed improvements at Weller Field, home to Ligonier Valley Rams football games.

He said the field could benefit from drought-resistant turf, and work is needed on sewage lines that backed up in the bathroom during recent games.

Mols said an inventory of district facilities will be among the tasks that await him when he begins work at Ligonier Valley, sometime before December.

Mols lives in Dravosburg with his wife, Sharon, an operating room nurse at UPMC Shadyside hospital in Pittsburgh.

He indicated it’s possible he will relocate to the district.

D’Arcangelo said Mols would be offered an incentive for making that move. Details of that contract term weren’t immediately available.

Previous Ligonier Valley Superintendent Tim Kantor, who has been on medical leave, was transferred on July 1 to the honorary role of senior administrator. He is to remain in that role, which lacks any administrative authority, and continue on extended leave until his expected retirement at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

That will cap a career of more than 20 years in various positions at Ligonier Valley.

D’Arcangelo said at the time that move was part of “a transition plan that enables the district to appoint a new permanent superintendent while respecting the contributions and tenure of Mr. Kantor.”