DALLAS TWP. – The Mountaineers have a new athletic director.

The Dallas school board voted Monday to make Matthew Stretanski the district’s athletic director for the 2026-27 school year. Stretanski, a long-time district social studies teacher, brings to the role decades of academic and athletic experience.

Superintendent Thomas Duffy praised the hiring of Stretanski after the Monday school board meeting and said the district was working with him to make preparations for the upcoming start of the school year.

“We advertised and ultimately went through our process and we appointed Matt Stretanski,” Duffy said. “We’ve been working with him in the last several weeks to get him acclimated and ready to go for the fall season.”

Stretanski, a Shavertown resident, has worked as a teacher in the district for over 30 years. For most of his career he has taught social studies in eighth grade, according to his LinkedIn page, and he has recently transitioned into a role as a social studies teacher at the high school. Duffy said Stretanski will continue teaching social studies and that his schedule will be rearranged to accommodate his new work as athletic director, which comes with an annual stipend of $10,421.

“There are some schedule adjustments in his afternoon that will allow him to do athletic-director duties and free him up from some of his teaching responsibilities,” Duffy said.

According to a biography the district posted on its website, Stretanski served as the high school swim coach for around 15 years, leading the team up until 2009. In that time the Mountaineers excelled and Stretanski received the 2007 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District 2 award for coach of the year. Working to expand swimming outside in the broader community, Stretanski co-founded both the Dallas Mountaineers Aquatic Club Summer Team, which he has coached for 24 years, and the Northeast Pennsylvania Summer Swim League, which has worked with young swimmers across the region for 18 years.

Stretanski also served as district’s pool manager for around 30 years, a role which has involved him building connections with the broader community to promote youth development.

Before arriving at the district, Stretanski had an illustrious athletic career in college. He became a team captain, record breaker, and conference champion while competing with the Franklin & Marshall College swim team. Afterwards, Stretanski completed his graduate studies in sports management at East Stroudsburg University, according to his district biography. In 2018, he did work at Marywood University that went towards earning his principal certification.

A district statement issued in advance of the meeting Monday lauded Stretanski for his experience and dedication to the Mountaineer community.

“Matthew Stretanski ‘Mr. S.’ brings nearly three decades of service, leadership, and community commitment to his role as Athletic Director for the Dallas School District,” the district stated. “A respected educator, coach, and program coordinator, Stretanski has shaped the district’s athletic and extracurricular landscape through his work with student‑athletes, families, and regional partners.”

Stretanski succeeds Matthew Samuel as athletic director, a Dallas alumnus and a high school English teacher in the district who has coached the Mountaineer cross country and track and field teams. Samuel will remain in the district as a teacher after stepping away from his athletic director roles.

“Matt Samuel did a phenomenal job last year for us,” Stretanski said. “(He) made a decision that he’s going to go in a different direction on that and was extremely supportive with the transition plan and continues to be supportive….”

Samuel became athletic director in January as the successor to Michael Richards, who had served as the school district’s athletic director since 2019 and had worked in the district as an occupational therapist and as the Mountaineers’ varsity wrestling coach. The school board voted 7-2 to accept Richards’ retirement in December. Duffy has declined to comment on Richards’ retirement and did so again Monday night, citing a district policy against discussing personnel matters.