NESHANNOCK Schools chief plans to leave

A replacement probably won't be in place until July.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Some opportunities are just too good to pass up.
For Ronald Mento, superintendent of Neshannock School District, that means moving on to the superintendent's job at Montour School District in Allegheny County.
"Any time you have an opportunity to go to a premier school district in Allegheny County, you can't pass it up. It's almost triple the size of Neshannock and it has a $35 million budget. It's going to be a real challenge," said Mento, 52, of Center Township, Beaver County.
He earns $99,981 a year at Neshannock. His salary at Montour hasn't been set.
Working on contract: Mento informed the Neshannock school board of his offer from Montour on Monday night. He's negotiating a contract with Montour and expects to start in April.
Board president Karen Houk said Neshannock won't act until Mento gives his formal resignation but will probably appoint Joseph Scungio, a retired Neshannock superintendent, to fill in. Scungio is acting assistant superintendent, filling in for Dan Matsook, who left last month.
Houk said that she doesn't expect to hire a full-time superintendent until at least July and that the search for an assistant superintendent will probably be put on hold until a superintendent is found.
Houk said Mento will be missed.
"I truly believe he brought an awful lot to Neshannock. Every decision he's made has been for the betterment of the children," she said.
Longer year: Through Mento's work, Neshannock will be the first school district in Lawrence County to have more than 180 days of instruction, she said. He negotiated a longer school year with teachers to help make up for instruction time students miss because of required state testing, Houk said.
"It shows he's innovative and not afraid to try something new," Houk added.
Mento said that during his three-year tenure at Neshannock he's helped institute a learning resource center at the high school, which he believes helped improve the district's state test scores.
He also started the process of creating a middle school in the district to replace the junior high school. The district is now working with an architectural firm to redesign the building to accommodate the middle school.