TRINITY — The Trinity ISD Board of Regents has selected a replacement for retiring Superintendent Dr. John Kaufman.
At the April 27 meeting, the board announced that the lone finalist was Dr. Benjamin S. Petty.
Kaufman announced his resignation in December 2025.
According to information from the Magnolia ISD website, Petty currently is executive director of Secondary Student Services at MISD. He also is listed as an adjunct professor and a Lecturer-Pool of Educational Leadership, Department of Educational Leadership at Sam Houston State University.
His LinkedIn profile shows that he was an associate principal and a Junior High Principal with the Magnolia district as well, and a principal at Orangefield High School.
He holds a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership and Administration from SHSU and also received his master’s degree in the same field from SHSU.
He received a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Teaching from Florida College.
In other business, the board:
- discussed the Lansberry Elementary School classroom construction project, which still is on track to be completed in mid-July;
- reported that all Board of Trustees members exceeded their continuing education hours;
- approved a lease agreement for a school building on San Jacinto Street for Boys and Girls Club of Walker County for $1 a year for the building and $10 a year for electricity;
- approved employment contracts for Community in Schools counselors for Lansberry Elementary and Trinity Middle schools;
- discussed a possible retrofit of school buses for three-point seat belts. Administrators said that it would cost upwards of $300,000 to retrofit the buses, but bus manufacturer Bluebird will not allow any retrofitting. This report will be reported to the state;
- approved the contracts for teachers, counselors, diagnostician, and the school nurse for the 2026-2027 school year, and terminated a contract for a math teacher; and
- extended the contracts for Jessica Funderburk and Brianna Parker through June 4 for certification completion.
