Director of Pupil Services and Operations Chris Santini will begin his new role July 1, meaning his last day with Central Cambria is June 30. The board will officially approve his resignation at the May 13 meeting, Superintendent Jason Moore said.

The Central Cambria school board created the director of pupil services position in March as a way to save money by not replacing soon-to-be retirees and to realign three positions — overseeing the maintenance and transportation departments as well as the pupil informative management system — into one.

Moore said the district is looking at a couple of options to fill the position. He said the district has posted an anticipated vacancy for a maintenance director position, and the board wants to see the quality of candidates received before making a decision on which way the district will go.

“If we get a really high-quality candidate for the maintenance director position, the board might just hire a stand-alone maintenance director, and we would divide up the other tasks among the existing administrative staff to try to save some more money,” he said.

Central Cambria Director of Pupil Services and Operations Chris Santini, seen with wife, Emily, daughter, Whitney, 10, and son, Lincoln, 11, has accepted the superintendent post at Bald Eagle Area. Courtesy photo

If they can’t find someone, Moore said the district would then look to find “another skilled administrator with Mr. Santini’s background” who is capable of filling his shoes.

As the director of pupil services and operations, Santini oversees the district’s physical plant, supervising the maintenance department and monitoring energy usage. He also handles many other vital tasks, serving as the district’s assessment coordinator, managing student information, home education, English as a Second Language and overseeing the district’s federal programs.

“Ideally we’d have some more time with this, but sometimes things just don’t work out with folks finding other positions and retirements. We’ll make it work one way or the other,” Moore said.

Santini, who has family in Centre County and is familiar with his future district, said when the opportunity became available at Bald Eagle Area, “it was perfect timing.”

After discussing the move with his wife, Emily, they decided if they’re going to relocate their family, they need to do it soon or wait until after their children — Lincoln, 11, and Whitney, 10 — are graduated from high school.

“Our kids have had an excellent experience at Central Cambria,” Santini said, adding there are many extracurricular opportunities for students in academics, athletics and the performing arts. “That makes it a hard place to leave.”

Due to health challenges faced by some of Santini’s family members who live in the State College area, the family wanted to be in Centre County for the next chapter of their lives.

Santini was chosen from nearly 25 applicants who expressed interest in the superintendent position, according to a press release from the Bald Eagle Area School District.

Bald Eagle Area School Board President Tina Greene said Santini brings many years of experience in education leadership to the district and they’re excited to welcome him.

“We look forward to partnering with him to propel Bald Eagle forward and continue our success as a student-focused school district,” Greene said. “We know this will be a great asset to all.”

Moore said Santini left the district better than he found it.

“In his six years as principal of our middle school, he brought our test scores from the middle of the pack within the county to the top, and he did the same thing with our high school,” Moore said.

Santini said Central Cambria High School was ranked in the bottom third of the 13 high schools in Cambria County when he took over as principal in 2018. But for the past two years, he said the school was ranked No. 2 in the county in the U.S. News & World Report’s Best High Schools in America ranking.

“My team and I put in a lot of work over the past six years to elevate our status. When you put that level of investment in, it is bittersweet to hand the keys over to somebody else,” he said.

Santini said knowing that the district and the high school were “in good hands” made the decision easier for him to leave.

“Fortunately, I trained Lisa Asashon to be able to lead the school, and when the time came, she was ready. She is already doing great things at the high school,” he said, adding he’s lived away from his hometown for 22 years. “I am looking forward to returning and serving the students of Bald Eagle Area.”

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.