The Deptford Township board of education’s Dec. 13 meeting was bittersweet for School Superintendent Arthur Dietz: It was his last as head of the district.
The news of Dietz’s retirement next month was first announced and approved at the board’s October session. He became superintendent in May 2018 – guiding the district during the tumultuous school closings caused by COVID – then helped ease its transition from in-person to digital learning and back.
“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.”
Some of those projects included the recent renovation of Deptford Middle School’s exterior and interior and the upcoming high-school auditorium upgrade.
Board member James McDevitt III recalled Dietz’s interview for the job, where he was asked about his goals for the district.
“And you (Dietz) said, ‘I want to get in, I want to make the high school as strong as the middle school has been grade-wise and I want to leave it better than when I got here,’” McDevitt noted. “And through your tutelage with your great staff, you’ve done exactly that.
“Thank you for your service.”
Before Dietz was superintendent, he spent four years as vice principal at the high school and six as principal of the middle school. Before coming to Deptford, he was Delsea Regional High School’s senior Army JROTC instructor and a veteran pilot himself.
“I am not crying tonight; I’m a little bit wound up,” admitted board member Stacy Gray. “When Mr. Dietz was at the middle school, he raised the test scores (so high) that we had the highest test scores in the county. A lot of people felt that the middle school was ‘the place that people go to die’ or something. But I know that that place was an awesome place when you were there.
“I have very special memories of things that you did for my children that I know other people would not do,” Gray added. “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.
“You have a lot of courage when you come to that.”
Chief Academic Officer Kevin Kanauss will become interim superintendent in the new year.
