T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK The Union Local Board of Education welcomes Sam Lucas, who has come out of retirement to take on the role of superintendent pro tem.

BELMONT — The Union Local School District welcomed retired school administrator Sam Lucas of Barnesville, who has taken over as superintendent pro tem following the resignation of Ben Porter last week.

“It’s a different week, because I retired 13 years ago, and getting back into the daily grind has been different, but overall it’s been a good situation because Union Local gave me my first start as an administrator,” Lucas said. “I was the principal at Belmont and Bethesda, and I think that I owe that to them, to give them help when they really need it.”

He was a principal at Union Local from 1986-1990.

“I started my administrative career at Union Local, and I spent five years as a principal and after that I’ve spent 20 years as a superintendent (in Barnesville) and I’ve been retired for 13 years,” he said. “I’ve been on the job one week and things are going well. It was a pretty smooth week.”

The district has numerous ongoing issues to consider, including improving student performance coming off COVID-19 lockdowns.

“Concentrating going forward is just to see where the district really is and all these aspects,” Lucas said. “I want to know what is going on in the district and evaluate what’s needed to be done.”

Lucas is also meeting parents, staff and students.

“I’m a hands-on superintendent. A lot of people in the district already know me. I get around and see everybody as much as I can,” he said.

He said his leadership style focuses on encouraging teamwork.

“I believe that every district should be a team, and you should be a team leader of the entire district and involve as many people as you can to be team leaders,” Lucas said.

“I think the Union Local School District is a very good school district. They’re like a lot of other schools, they might need some improvement in the student achievement realm, but overall they are a very good school district and a good place to send your children,” he said.

“They approached me. I did not have a desire to come back into the superintendency, but I do have the license and do have the experience, and I thought that I could help the district until they obtain a new superintendent,” Lucas said. “My main goal is to help the Union Local Board of Education come up with a high-quality individual to become the next superintendent. … I’m proud to come back and serve (the district).”

Board member Shaun Roe welcomed Lucas.

“We’re really excited. We were fortunate to get Mr. Lucas to come in and serve as our interim superintendent, and that’s from the bottom of my heart,” he said. “We couldn’t have asked for a more experienced person to come in and kind of fill in while we do our search. The really nice thing is the board, to have somebody with his kind of experience here to give us some leeway to find the best person to take us forward.”

He said Lucas has proven an exceptional administrator.

“I think he’s kind of hit the ground running, and he’s kind of getting up to speed on us and what we’ve been doing for the last several years here, and so far it’s been great. We appreciate him being here,” Roe said.

Treasurer Janet Hissrich agreed.

“Mr. Lucas is doing an outstanding job. He’s a very well-respected superintendent in our area, and we appreciate his willingness to come back and to serve as superintendent pro tem during our search for a successor to Mr. Porter,” Hissrich said. “Mr. Porter made a very positive impact on the education process here at Union Local, and we are very appreciative of everything Mr. Porter did during his eight-year term as superintendent as we have the deepest respect for him.

“The vacancy has been posted statewide, and applications are beginning to be received. Interviews are anticipated to begin the first week of October. Applications are due Sept. 30.”

The board went into closed-door executive session for close to two hours Friday to confer with the district attorney about disputes involving the board that are subjects of pending or imminent court action and to consider matters required to be kept confidential by federal or state law.