Jeff Finch

GROVE CITY — Jeff Finch will be the new superintendent of the Grove City School District.

The school board voted Nov. 11 to hire Finch to a term running from Dec. 15 through June 30, 2020.

Finch, who will make $150,000 a year, will leave his position as assistant superintendent at the Hampton Township School District.

He has been with the Hampton district since 1999, spending most of that time as a principal at the high school. From 1994 to 1999 he was with the Seneca Valley School District where he taught technology education.

School Board President Susan Herman said the district is unsure of when Finch will start, but it may be in January.

The board used search consultant Templeton Advantage of Newport, Pa., to assist with the search process. It started with 32 applicants.

After several rounds of interviews and focus groups, the board last month announced Finch and Northgate School District Superintendent Joseph Pasquerilla as its final two candidates. They met the public at a forum on Oct. 21.

Herman said revealing the final two candidates helped the board make its decision.

“Mr. Finch was overwhelmingly the favorite by all those community groups,” she said about the feedback the board received.

Herman said the board’s priority in hiring a superintendent was to make academic progress, and Finch impressed them on that issue.

“He was superior in his ability to articulate a clear vision with action steps to move our district forward academically,” she said.

Finch said Tuesday that he is excited to lead the Grove City district, but felt bittersweet about leaving the district where he has worked for 16 years.

He said he likes the small town “neighborhood feel” of Grove City and the diversity offered by having two colleges nearby.

“Not only is it exciting to have the opportunity to be a superintendent, but also to do so in the type of community that really interests me,” he said.

Finch said he planned to spend today meeting teachers and staff and will work in coming months to introduce himself to students and residents.

“To do this kind of job you do it best when you develop an understanding and a working relationship with people,” he said.

Finch, 45, lives in Harmony, but recently remarried and plans to find a house somewhere in northern Allegheny County or southern Butler County, he said.

Previous Superintendent Richard Mextorf left the district at the end of June to become the superintendent at the Hamburg School District in Berks County. Mextorf had been with the district since 2011.

Lawrence Connelly, a retired school superintendent, will continue to fill in as acting superintendent until Finch takes over.