BOE Members Suggest Giving New Athletic Director Other Duties

Two members of the Board of Education suggested that school officials should look at giving the new athletic director additional duties as a cost savings measure for the district.

The subject was broached Tuesday evening during a board meeting where district executives laid out the schedule for hiring a replacement for longtime Athletic Director Ed Tranchina who is retiring at the end of the school year. The district hopes to have a replacement on the job by July 1.

BOE Gary McCready proposed having the new athletic director take on teaching duties in the high school or serving as a coach of a team. He noted this would save a stipend salary or allow for more classes to be taught. Currently Tranchina does not have any of those duties as part of his job description.

"One thing I'd ask you to consider if some additional duties of teaching or some type of coaching," he said.

Schools Superintendent Margaret Dolan said this would be taken under consideration as the district finalizes the job description for the athletic director post. The finalization of this will occur before next Monday, when the job is scheduled to be posted.

Dolan said there is precedent for the coaching aspect of the athletic director's job, noting Tranchina served concurrently as football coach and former athletic director Gary Kehler was also a coach while heading up the athletic department.

Another suggestion from board member became a non-starter. BOE member Mitch Slater suggested combining the athletic director with other roles in the school system. Dolan said this was considered following Tranchina's retirement and the current fiscal situation facing the school system. She said the research she conducted showed this would not work in Westfield.

"As we looked into this, in a district the size of Westfield and the demands of the teams, we felt it was a job that was required," she said.

Slater, who took office a week ago, has been pressing fiscal measures during his campaign and since his election. An hour after his April 20 election, Slater proposed reexamining the teacher's contract, including the pay raise, and called for teachers to accept a salary freeze. Both proposals were met with resistance from the teachers' union.