ADAMS TWP — The Mars School District will have a new superintendent July 1.

That is when Wesley Shipley will start. He has been the superintendent at the Shaler School District since 2011

His hiring was approved Tuesday night by the Mars School Board. His four-year contract has a starting salary of $155,000.

Shipley said he looks forward to working in Mars because it is a progressive school district.

“To continue that is a very exciting venture for me,” he said.

Shipley salary at Shaler is $143,877.

The Shaler budget is $74 million, and the district has 4,500 students and 575 employees.

The Mars budget is $43.5 million, and it has 3,257 students and 319 employees.

William Pettigrew will continue as acting superintendent until the end of June, and will serve in a short-term leadership transition role at the beginning of the school year in the fall.

Pettigrew is filling in for the district since Jim Budzilek left the superintendent’s job after one year.