By Nick Mattera
Niagara Gazette
LEWISTON —
Pairing a growing need with a longstanding desire, the Lewiston-Porter school board approved a new administrative position Tuesday night, creating a shared position of school district athletic director and middle school dean of students.
The new $77,850 position will, according to School District Superintendent R.Christopher Roser, “kill two birds with one stone.”
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“Ever since I got here I have heard from parents, board members or coaches the need for us to have a more full-time athletic director,” Roser said. “While budgetary constraints won’t allow us to go that far, I believe this position fills a much needed void.”
Roser said the employee would have to manage their time on their own, ensuring they devote the proper amount of time to all 49 modified, junior varsity and varsity programs at Lew-Port, as well as to the new position of dean of students at the middle school.
Former Athletic Director Scott Townsend was paid a $70,000 base salary plus a $20,000 stipend. In addition, Roser said the district was forced to pay support staff $38,912 to make up for time Townsend spent devoted to athletics.
In total, the district paid $129,527 not including health insurance benefits, leading to a savings of more than $51,000 from the creation of the new position.
Roser said as important as it is to now to have an athletic director to perform a thorough review and evaluation of all coaches, facilities and equipment, the dean of students position will address a growing concern.
“Kids these days are more knowledgeable about worldly things,” Roser said. “This position will address disciplinary issues, but also be a position where the employee talks to students, gets to know them ... I guess another good word would be mentor.”
Roser said students at the middle school level are acting out to the point where another administrator is needed to keep order and allow Principal Vincent Dell’Oso to worry about curriculum issues and other day-to-day business.
Most school districts the size of Lewiston-Porter employ a part-time athletic director.
The school board also created the position of director of curriculum and instruction Tuesday. The $77,850 position will be paid for through grant funding through the Title II D Allotment, which was $77,827 last year.
Roser said the position would tackle of number of tasks that were handled last year by a plethora of different employees and outside consultants. The position includes managing staff development, adult and continuing education, curriculum mapping and district-wide plans.
Roser said the district will advertise for the position, but he believes it could be handled in house.
“There are a number of well-qualified people right here at Lew-Port who could handle either of those positions,” Roser said.
In other meeting-related business, the district announced its projected class sizes for all grades.
• Grades 1,2,4,5 and 6: 19 students per class.
• Grades K and 12: 20 students per class.
• Grades 3,8 and 11: 21 students per class.
• Grades 9 and 10: 22 students per class.
• Grade 7: 23 students per class.
Also outlined were a number of position transfers from one school to another. The district eliminated more than nine positions to bridge a state aid budget deficit earlier this year resulting in a cost savings of $1,008,436. Because of the reduction in staff size, Roser said positions are being transferred from school to school to ensure class sizes are at the levels the district would like.
For example, the district eliminated its pre-kindergarten program, contracting those services to the Niagara Falls YMCA, forcing those three teachers to be transferred to the Intermediate Building. Other moves included a high school English teacher moving to the middle school, a middle school teacher moving to the Intermediate school to fill a need and a high school special education teacher moving to the intermediate school, among several others.
Roser said the Lewiston Porter United Teachers union had some reservations regarding the transfers, but all measures were taken to keep employees in their current tenure tracks.
Also, an item to approve to resignation of elementary principal Margaret L. Beach was pulled of the agenda and tabled. Beach, a 12 year employee of the Lewiston-Porter School District, worked in Niagara Falls for 20 years prior said she has filed her retirement papers, but it was contingent upon a district-wide retirement incentive — which the board hasn’t approved yet.
