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Vandebilt Catholic High Principal James Reiss is in the final months of his tenure at the Catholic school, as the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux will not renew his contract for the 2014-15 school year, a diocesan spokesman said.
Reiss, the school’s principal for 10 years, will finish the current school year, said spokesman Louis Aguirre.
“He’s stepping down from Vandebilt,” Aguirre said. “It was the diocese’s decision to thank him for all that he has done and at the same time to let him know that the diocese and Vandebilt are looking for a new principal. … The diocesan administration has felt it is time for a new principal.”
An email seeking comment sent to Reiss’ Vandebilt address was unreturned at deadline.
Reiss joined Vanderbilt’s faculty in 1991 as the school’s band director, a position he held until he was named assistant principal in 1995, according to the diocese. He was elevated to principal in 2003.
The diocese will form a search committee over the next few days and then issue the diocese’s expected qualifications in potential candidates.
In the final 12 months of Reiss’ tenure as principal, Vandebilt Catholic High School had drawn the ire of many local media outlets due to a rash of incidents that occurred within the private school’s walls.
Most of the incidents revolved around the Terriers’ athletic department, which has replaced several coaches for a string of rules violations, among other incidents.
To this day, no one in power at the school has made any public comment regarding any of the stories to take place at Vandebilt.
It started last spring when Vandebilt’s girls’ basketball team was tossed from the LHSAA Class 4A State Playoff Semifinals just minutes before taking the floor for a scheduled game with St. Michael.
Reiss and other decision makers at the school were key players in that story because of a week-long court battle that took place between the family of an ineligible player and the LHSAA’s rule makers – a suit the school said they did not support.
In the aftermath of the forfeiture, Reiss and Vandebilt President David Keife made the decision to part ways with longtime girls’ basketball coach Kathy Luke, who has since been hired at Riverside Academy.
In addition to the girls’ basketball melee, Vandebilt fired head football coach Brad Villavaso this past spring after he allegedly sent aggressive text messages to a player within the team.
After Villavaso removed the player from the program, a weeklong back and forth ensued between the victim’s family and the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, which ended in Villavaso being fired and the player finishing the season with the team.
Vandebilt is currently in the final stages of hiring its new football coach.
Whoever takes the job will be working for a first-year principal.
