A large part of Wednesday night’s Ketchikan School Board meeting focused on the athletic director job description.  Superintendent Robert Boyle previously suggested using the retirement of current Athletic Director Ed Klein as an opportunity to restructure the position.

The revised position would be a certified administrative job and oversee personnel , student discipline and transportation .

Adding the transportation duties would allow transportation funds to help make up the additional salary cost of $40,000 per year.

Boyle says the position was historically an administrative role, but was cut due to budget constraints. Linking the job to transportation costs would prevent that from happening again.

“What I hope to establish by the combination of these two duties and funding sources is a rationale to protect the funding. We believe the transportation funds are solid, and will be into the future.”

Board Member Glenn Brown worried about funding the position during uncertain financial times.

“Although we can feel like we are a little fat right now with the current lay of the land for FY16 I feel like 17 is looming, so that kind of weighs on me too.”

The motion to change the job description failed with a 3-3 vote. David Timmerman,  Glenn Brown and Trevor Shaw voted no, and Stephen Bradford was absent.   Boyle says Board Members on the prevailing side have five days to ask that the issue be brought back. Otherwise the district will advertise the job as it is currently described and seek to fill the position by the end of September.

Also last night, the Board approved a policy that married, parenting and pregnant students should have access to the same educational opportunities and services as all other students. Boyle says although that the policy was not previously in writing it was in practice.

The next School Board meeting will be September 23rd.