The Manchester West High School ROTC teacher charged with attempted sex trafficking of a minor Thursday was not required to hold state educator credentials, a ROTC spokesperson said Tuesday. Instead, 46-year-old Stacey Ray Lancaster, of Hudson, was certified to work in the school by the Naval Junior ROTC program.
Lt. Commander Mack Jamieson, spokesperson for the Naval Junior ROTC, said Lancaster would have required a state credential only if the Manchester school district had hired him to teach other subjects. Lancaster, who retired from the Navy in August 2023 with an honorable discharge, received his NJROTC certification in March, 2023, Jamieson said.
Jamieson said Lancaster’s military certification process did not include a criminal background check because school districts are required to conduct those. Jamieson said that policy changed in November 2023 and now all NJROTC instructors go through a background check as an “extra measure” of protection.
The Manchester School District said in an email Tuesday that it did a criminal background check on Lancaster, as required by state law.
The NJROTC suspended Lancaster’s certification after his arrest during a federal sex trafficking sting at a Manchester hotel. Four other men were also arrested. The school district put him on administrative leave and is offering counseling to students.
The sting did not involve actual children.
In a filing Monday, federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office alleged Lancaster was at school when he arranged with an undercover detective to have sex with a 12-year-old girl at the hotel.
The Department of Education did not respond to a message asking if other types of educators can work in schools without a state credential. A bill that would have allowed districts to hire part-time teachers without credentials failed last year.
Manchester West High School has hosted the NJROTC program since 1971. There are several other school-based ROTC programs in the state, including at high schools in Dover, Windham, Hampton and Rochester, and at the University of New Hampshire and Southern New Hampshire University.