Panther Valley has chosen a new superintendent with deep roots in education in Carbon County.

He’s also a Panther Valley parent.

School board members named David McAndrew Jr. as superintendent Thursday night. The meeting was held online due to the coronavirus.

McAndrew has been employed by the Jim Thorpe Area School District for 19 years, 12 as an administrator. For the last six years he has been principal of Penn-Kidder Campus. Before that, he was the assistant principal at the L.B. Morris campus.

“He’s going to be right there for Panther Valley. He’s going to help us move along. It’s a tough time to get into it, but I’m wishing the best for him,” said Gary Porembo, school board president.

McAndrew’s salary will be $98,000 per year. His contract runs from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2023.

He replaces Dennis Kergick, who is retiring June 30 after six years on the job. McAndrew will join the school district as assistant to the superintendent on June 15 and work with Kergick for two weeks before taking his full-time position.

McAndrew acknowledged that Panther Valley does not have the financial resources of other districts, but he said there is a lot to be excited about between the students and faculty.

“They have a fantastic faculty that wants to produce a high level of education, and they have students that overcome a lot of obstacles to achieve college success and trade work. Hopefully we can continue to thrive,” he said.

Board members chose McAndrew from nine candidates for the position. He said McAndrew had the endorsement of the full board.

“We had some good people. They were from all over the area,” he said.

McAndrew said that he’s looking forward to preparing Panther Valley students for the future.

“It’s a tough time now with the virus and everything going on. But hopefully we’ll get back to normality soon and start preparing our students for the jobs of tomorrow.

In other business, the board accepted the retirement of George “Smokey” Krajnak Jr., buildings and grounds supervisor, effective the end of the 2019-20 school year.

The board accepted the resignation for retirement of Mary Mantz, Intermediate school instructional aide, and Bonnie Hunadi, cafeteria worker.

The board accepted the resignation of Junior-Senior High School Special Education teacher Karen Tharp, effective March 27, and approved a resignation date of March 27 for Junior-Senior High School Special Education Teacher Ashley Finkel.