The Deptford Township School District will enter 2023 without its superintendent, Arthur Dietz, who retired last year.
“Everything that we’re doing and celebrating with all the new buildings and the new projects and everything going on was under Mr. Dietz’s tenure,” said Board President Joe McKenna. “We appreciate everything that he has done.”
“I have very special memories of things that you did for my children that I know other people would not do,” board member Stacy Gray told Dietz at a December meeting. “You are a very special educator and leader. I’m just gonna miss you, because I have never seen a person that is not discouraged or walks away from a challenge.”
Dietz became superintendent in 2018 and helped guide the district through COVID. Most of the district’s recent renovations stemmed from his ideas. Though Dietz will be missed, the state of the district, according to McKenna, is good.
“Retired superintendent Arthur Dietz has left the district in a great position for a very bright future in the best interest of the students, staff and community,” McKenna said.
While the search for a new superintendent continues, CEO Kevin Kanauss took over as interim superintendent after the December board session.
The board will hold a reorganization meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 4 at its new meeting location in the middle school’s wing. Dietz and Ruth Logue, a board member who is also leaving, will both be honored for their service to the school district.
The meeting will also see three board members sworn in: Carol Gioia, Ed Kalinowski and Frank Scambia. The trio won their seats in the November election.
Building renovations that began last year – in the middle school and in the high school’s transitional learning academy – will continue this year.
The high school will also see renovation of its auditorium, virtually unchanged since the building opened in 1957. Upgrades will include new seating and new equipment, and work will begin in March after performances of the high school’s musical conclude.
