Trinity music teacher, band director resigns
Trinity High School music teacher and band director Matthew Stultz has resigned.
The Trinity Area School Board Thursday voted unanimously to accept Stultz’s resignation and to approve a settlement agreement between the district, the Trinity Area Education Association and Stultz.
Details of the settlement agreement were not released, but Superintendent Michael Lucas said it did not include compensation.
Stultz was hired in April 2009.
John Turek and Gordon Lowry were hired as co-directors of the band to replace Stultz. The board unanimously approved hiring them at salaries of $3,820.20 and $2,546.80, respectively.
The officially assume duties today.
Turek, an elementary music teacher at Trinity, will also serve as a music teacher at the high school.
Also, district staff members will undergo ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training. ALICE is a program that instructs teachers and staff how to react during a shooting.
It’s designed to help people make decisions that increase survival rates if they encounter an active shooter.
The training includes a mock drill that emphasizes potential real-life scenarios.
The program will be taught by Trinity police officer Rich Horner, who is trained in ALICE.
“It’s a pretty powerful program, and it will be very beneficial for us to participate in it,” said Lucas.
In another matter, Lucas said the high school vocational agriculture program is set to begin when school resumes Tuesday, and the program is on track for state approval in January.
In other business, the district is considering revising its weather policy, in order to reduce the number of cancellations and delays.
The current policy calls for the district to close if the temperature drops to zero. During the 2013-14 school year, temperatures dipped into single digits and below zero on several occasions. causing more delays and cancellations that many other districts in Washington County.
The board directed Lucas to revise the policy and present it at the Sept. 18 school board meeting.