Aug 22, 2016 4 min read

Trinity Area School District’s top two administrators received five-year contract extensions last week.

The school board unanimously approved contract extensions for Superintendent Michael Lucas and Assistant Superintendent Donald Snoke. The new pacts go into effect Sept. 1 and expire in June 2021.

The contracts do not include a salary increase for the 2016-17 school year, but there are raises in subsequent years. In the second year of the contract, the raises will be tied to a comparison with the salaries of top administrators in other schools in the region.

In the remaining years, raises will be a minimum of 3 percent.

Lucas was hired as superintendent in June 2014, after serving as assistant superintendent for nearly three years.

“I’m quite humbled that the board of directors would like to extend our partnership and continue our work to raise academic achievement, improve school programs and make fiscally responsible decisions to improve education at Trinity, even when the decisions are not popular,” said Lucas. “The board and I began with a $3 million deficit, and we are finally at a stable level. This is a very special school district with incredible students, dedicated families and passionate teachers. We have made such progress, academically, fiscally and culturally. I’m definitely a Hiller, and it certainly is a great day to be a Hiller.”

In addition to forgoing a pay increase for the upcoming school year, Lucas and Snoke have accepted pay freezes for the previous two years. Lucas will receive a salary of $140,000 for the upcoming school year.

Snoke’s salary last year was $125,747.

Snoke, a graduate of Trinity High School, served as high school principal for 15 years before he was tapped to serve as assistant superintendent in January 2015.

Snoke said he has enjoyed the move from the high school to the administration office.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure,” said Snoke. “I wasn’t sure how moving to central office would be as compared to the principal’s job, but it was rewarding as well downstairs, and it has been a pleasure to be here, so thank you so much.”

School board directors praised the work Lucas and Snoke have done alongside each other, lauding their leadership abilities and implementation of programs. In the past two years, the school district has implemented a vocational agriculture program, provided chrome books for all high school students, procured more than $200,000 in grant funding for STEAM initiatives, established educational partnerships with Penn Commercial, Texas A&M, California University of Pennsylvania, Washington & Jefferson College, and Harvard University, added autistic and emotional support services for all grades, climbed out of a $3 million deficit to reach a balanced budget, and improved scores in the state’s School Performance Profiles.

Said director Frances Eates, “Trinity has been extremely fortunate to have these two gentlemen. It hasn’t been an easy road for us. They’ve certainly sacrificed for us in the terms of three years of pay freezes, and they have assumed responsibilities when we were missing staff or when we needed staff. In my opinion as an educator, they have gone over and above what many superintendents would be willing to do, so I appreciate all of their efforts and all that they have done for Trinity. And as for programming, there’s just a list of the things they’ve added that our kids now benefit from.”

In other matters:

• The school board accepted the resignations of high school social studies teacher Shawn Trapuzzano, middle school English teacher Michele Orchowski, head girls varsity volleyball coach Amanda Bilitski, and food service employee Jean Shriver, who are retiring.

• Directors hired Marissa Bristor as middle school social studies teacher at a salary of $48,600 and Michael Sherry as middle school English teacher at a salary of $48,000.

• A district resident voiced his complaints about the school district’s recent increase in student parking fees from $35 to $200 per year.

• Directors approved freezing the current student breakfast and lunch meal prices.