T-L File Photo Zac Shutler will be leading the Union Local School District. He has served as principal at Union Local High School and the board hired him Thursday for the superintendent’s post.

BELMONT — Union Local School District has a new superintendent. Zac Shutler was officially hired Thursday.

Former superintendent Ben Porter resigned in late August and the board selected Sam Lucas to act as interim superintendent through the start of the school year while they conducted interviews.

Shutler had served as principal at Union Local High School.

“I’m really excited to work with the team. I think there’s a ton of potential at Union Local School District. I’ve been blessed to work there for the past three years and get to know the people, get to know the community, and I am excited to get started,” he said.

“I appreciate the groundwork that Mr. Ben Porter laid for me. I have a lot of respect for him, and the job Mr. Lucas did as the interim,” Shutler said. “(The board) treated this process extremely professionally.”

Shutler had briefly helmed the district in November as acting superintendent when Porter took a leave.

He has been a principal at the elementary, middle and high school levels and a prior superintendent at Bridgeport Exempted Village School District. He is currently also a part-time professor at West Liberty University.

“I feel with all those past experiences and with my doctorate in leadership, it puts me in a good position to improve the team,” he said.

“The plan is to hit the ground running starting on Monday and get to know the staffs at all buildings, not just the high school,” he said.

Some prior meetings have been contentious, with parents and staff arguing about issues ranging from the extent of COVID-19 restrictions to more recently whether the district should host a health clinic for students.

“I think when you’re superintendent, when you’re in charge of a school district, people are going to be very passionate about their children,” Shutler said. “They’re going to be passionate about their school, it’s part of their community, so not everyone’s going to agree on every item.

“Not everyone’s going to agree on every issue,” he continued. “The important thing when you’re in a leadership position is to listen, to try and understand their vantage point, and it doesn’t mean that we’re always going to see eye-to-eye, but I think it’s important that people know that you’re willing to listen and try to understand, even though there’s going to be times you can’t reach an agreement, but hopefully having that mutual respect from each other.

“Union Local’s a strong school district, and I can’t say enough really positive things about Mr. Porter the previous superintendent. … We have a strong teaching staff and we have excellent families in multiple supportive communities that make up Union Local. It’s about refining the strengths, not just focusing on weaknesses,” he said. “That’s what I’m going to focus on: building a team, building consensus, and really moving Union Local forward and hopefully striving to be the premiere school of Belmont County.”

Shutler said the new high school principal is to be decided.

“We don’t have a specific person for that role yet,” he said.