Glendale picks Sidman man as superintendent

FLINTON - A Sidman man is now Glendale School District's superintendent.

Board members unanimously tabbed administrator Arnold J. Nadonley to fill the post Tuesday night, with a contract that will run through 2013 and pay him $104,000 annually over the next school year, Board President Andy Mulhollen said.

''Glendale, to me, is an appealing place. It's a school that's small enough to care but big enough to challenge students,'' said Nadonley, 41, who is leaving a job at Blairsville-Saltsburg School District, where he's served as superintendent for two years.

Nadonley is a Cambria County native and a 1985 Forest Hills School District grad, who has remained in that area despite working in Blairsville in recent years.

Before that, he spent more than 18 years in the Windber Area School District, first as a teacher and eventually as Education Director where he handled a long list of administrative duties, he said.

He said a lot appealed to him about tiny Glendale, crediting staff and the school's impressive use of technology.

''There's a lot of technological innovation here, but we need to make sure we're making the best use of it, and we keep advancing with it,'' he said.

He said district-wide operational efficiency also will be a goal, at a time when costs in districts everywhere are rising.

Nadonley replaces Dennis Bruno, who was suspended this summer and abruptly retired a few months later while a state audit was under way.

The board has been mostly mum about the issue. But the district has been looking to find a new superintendent since, bringing in retired educator Pat Lukasavich to help the school move through the hiring process.

''This is a good district, and we'll improve on what's been a problem in the past to make this an even better place,'' Nadonley said.

Nadonley said he plans to ''hit the ground running'' at his new job, despite the fact he'll be entering the job toward the end of Glendale's school year.

He's also looking forward to the shorter commute saying his nearly 30-minute drive to Glendale won't stop him from being a ''very visible'' and ''active'' administrator in the district.

''I'm very task-oriented,'' he said. ''I have a lot of ideas and look forward to working with the board on them.''

Mirror Staff Writer David Hurst is at 946-7457.