Lancaster board appoints John Tresman as assistant director of special education

The Lancaster Central School District Board of Education approved the appointment of John Tresman as assistant director of special education during its public meeting on 2025-06-09 at Lancaster High School.

The hiring committee’s unanimous recommendation highlighted Tresman’s leadership as assistant principal at Lancaster Middle School and his work expanding inclusion models. “It is with great enthusiasm and confidence that I recommend John Tresman for the position of assistant director of special education,” the district representative said. The recommendation credited him with expanding “opportunities for our special education population,” implementing inclusion models that enabled students “to participate in both advanced and regents level courses,” and integrating unified sports into physical education.

The recommendation said Tresman “has earned the trust of teachers and staff, families appreciate his honesty and advocacy, and students benefit every day from his belief in their potential.” It added that Tresman had prior experience as a special education teacher in self-contained and consultant classrooms in an alternative school setting and that the hiring committee’s recommendation was unanimous.

Tresman addressed the board after the motion to appoint him passed. “I wanna take a moment to sincerely thank the Board of Education, doctor Kufel, mister Kraseman, and miss Gannon, for this incredible opportunity to serve as the assistant director of special education. I'm truly honored and excited to step into this role for the department in which I began as a teacher over a decade ago,” he said.

The motion to appoint Tresman was moved and seconded; the board chair called for a vote and the transcript records “Motion carries.” The record does not include a roll-call vote tally or the names of the motion mover and seconder.

Discussion vs. decision: the transcript shows a formal recommendation and an acceptance speech; no directive or implementation timeline for Tresman’s duties was specified in the public portion of the meeting. The appointment was ratified by the board at the meeting; no additional conditions were recorded in the transcript.

The board recognized the appointment from the dais and moved on to other personnel business.