Lafayette, LA: Trev Faulk, man appointed head football coach at Northside High is not a certified teacher

Trev Faulk, the man appointed head football coach this week at Northside High as part of a plan to improve the school’s academic performance, is not a certified teacher. This seems to contradict Lafayette Schools Superintendent Pat Cooper’s earlier statements about the school’s reconstitution plan.

“It’s all about the academics,” Cooper said at a news conference Wednesday where he introduced Faulk and Ellis Trent as the new Northside High track coach and athletic director.

Cooper said high school coaches are not required to have a teaching certificate, unless they also teach classes. But he acknowledged that most high school coaches in Lafayette Parish public schools are certified to teach.

Faulk is being hired as a course facilitator for online classes, which does not require teacher certification, Cooper said. But Faulk should be certified by the time school starts in the fall, he said. Faulk passed the first part of the teacher certification exam and will take the second part in July, he said. When he receives the results and passes the exam, he will be moved into a regular teaching position, probably physical education, Cooper said.

“You have to have certification if you’re going to be teaching, even if it’s temporary certification,” he said. “In his case, he’s already passed the first part of the Praxis and he did very well. We can’t hire him as a teacher until he passes the second part of the Praxis.”

Cooper described Faulk as a “bright guy.”

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