Ligonier Valley School District has selected an educator at the neighboring Greater Latrobe school system to fill a high school administrative post that has been vacant since August.

Rachel Faust will begin work March 3 as the new assistant principal at Ligonier Valley High School.

Faust has worked at Greater Latrobe for more than 18 years, most recently as an instructional coach. In her online profile, she lists skills in teaching, tutoring, curriculum design and development, instructional technology, classroom management and educational leadership.

Discipline, attendance, teacher observations and evaluations and meetings with parents and students will be among her areas of responsibility at Ligonier Valley.

Faust scored highest among applicants for the assistant principal job, according to Ligonier Valley business manager Eric Kocsis.

“We went through the interview process a couple times,” he said.

“We are excited for Rachel to join our team,” said Ligonier Valley High School Principal Rachel Kurdziel. “She will be instrumental in furthering opportunities we have for our students and staff. I believe she is going to be a very good fit for our LVHS community.”

The school board set her starting salary at $92,000.

Faust succeeds Kelsey Kotun, who resigned July 31 and is assistant principal at Jeannette Junior-Senior High School.

In other administrative moves, Ligonier Valley accepted the resignation of Paulina Burns as its middle school principal and named as interim principal Maria Baumann, who has served as the school’s assistant principal.

Kocsis said Baumann is slated to remain in the interim role for the remainder of the academic term as district officials consider options for leadership roles at the middle school for the 2025-26 school year.

Burns resigned to accept the role of special education supervisor at Marion Center Area School District in Indiana County.

The Ligonier Valley board approved salary adjustments for Baumann and for Laurel Valley Elementary Principal Brett Marabito, raising their respective pay levels to $92,300 and $94,900.

Marabito was granted a salary of $86,000 in February 2024, when he was promoted to elementary principal. Baumann was hired as assistant middle school principal and school health and safety administrator in July 2022, at an initial salary of $77,000.

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