RICHLAND TWP, Clarion County — The Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District is gearing up for the school year with a new superintendent at the head.

David McDeavitt, 40, of Slippery Rock Township, Butler County, recently moved from being the A-C Valley's high school principal to superintendent.

McDeavitt started in his new position July 1 with a salary of $98,500. He replaces Brenda Brinker, who retired. McDea-vitt, who has been at the district since 2004, said that he sees the district facing two challenges, one of which is shrinking enrollment.

“It's been just declining from year to year,” McDeavitt said.

Another challenge is the uncertainty of future funding and budgets.

“I think all school districts are concerned about that,” McDeavitt said.

The A-C Valley budget for this coming school year is $13 million, an increase from this past school year's $11.82 million budget.

Although the district furloughed two teachers last year, the district did not have to furlough anyone this year.

“We were able to maintain our educational programs to meet the needs of every one of our students,” McDeavitt said.

Besides McDeavitt, the district has an all new administrative team, including new high school principal Bill Jordan and new elementary school principal Joshua Tabor.

Also new is a director of education position. Erin Barlett, formerly an elementary reading coach in the district, who was hired to that position.

Barlett will monitor curriculum and work on grant writing, grant implementation and professional development.

“She's got a hefty load in front of her,” McDeavitt said.

This year, the district received a federal Keystone to Opportunity grant for $740,000. The grant money will be used to promote literacy.

“We're really working on a big push for literacy,” McDeavitt said. “I think, generally speaking, in all school districts that's a big area that's overlooked.”

Also with the grant, the district will hire a data specialist who will pull together and analyze data from the district's standardized tests.

McDeavitt said that testing is valuable as long as the data from the tests is used properly.

“I think we all need to be held accountable,” McDeavitt said.

Despite some of the newness, other things will remain the same at the district.

The district is halfway through its strategic plan, which will continue for three more years. McDeavitt said the goal of the plan is to teach self esteem and self sufficiency to students, to teach responsible technology use and to have students develop modern communication skills.

Because he has been at the district for half a decade, McDeavitt knows most of the staff, which has helped make the transition smooth.

“We've got great staff members here at A-C Valley,” McDeavitt said. “We have a team that works together.”

Name: David McDeavittAge: 40Residence: Slippery Rock TownshipFamily: Wife, Jennifer; son, AlecPosition: Superintendent of the Allegheny-Clarion Valley School DistrictEducation: Bachelor’s in health and physical education from Slippery Rock University, 1995; master’s in education from Gannon University, 2004; working on Ph.D. in organizational leadership from Gannon.Number of students: 760Number of staff: 112Budget for 2012-13: $13 millionTax rates: Armstrong County: 32.11 mills; Butler County: 46.74 mills; Clarion County: 54.91 mills; and Venango County: 11.81 millsDistrict covers: Allegheny Township in Butler County; Hovey Township and Parker in Armstrong County; Perry and Richland townships, and Foxburg and St. Petersburg in Clarion County; and Richland and Scrubgrass townships and Emlenton in Venango County