Plans to hire someone to serve half-time as activities director and half-time as assistant high school principal for the Greene County schools have been scuttled, and instead the activity director’s duties will be shared by high school science teacher Dean Lansman and middle school principal Shawn Zanders.
The board had during the fall OKd posting the AD/assistant principal position, but the initial posting did not result in qualified candidates for the job. “Looking at everything financially, I don’t think that’s the right move, so I didn’t re-advertise for the position,” superintendent Tim Christensen told the Greene County board at its regular meeting June 18.
Lansman did many of the AD duties during the past school year following the late resignation of AD/social studies teacher Dave Waskow last summer. Christensen said that by shifting part of the job to Zanders, the high school AD position would be “more manageable.”
In addition, Tony Beger will be offered additional pay to serve as event manager at both schools, and to assist Lansman and Zanders as needed. Beger, a business teacher, has previously been AD at East Greene.
Zanders will be responsible for evaluating coaches at the middle school. Lansman, after completing evaluator training, will evaluate those coaches. It has not been decided yet who will evaluate Lansman as he coaches varsity football and boys’ track and field at the high school.
Lansman’s teaching load will be reduced. He’ll teach three class periods during the first and third trimester and two class periods during the middle trimester when winter sports are in full swing. There are six class periods in a day at the high school. Teachers generally teach five class periods and have one period for preparation.
The board approved a $12,000 salary for Lansman in addition to his teaching salary. The board also approved a $4,000 stipend for Beger. Christensen said he has not discussed a salary adjustment with Zanders.
High school principal Brian Phillips cautioned the board about not hiring an assistant principal. He named several people – Ruth Broman, Emily Gannon, Justin Guiter and Kyle Kinne – “who have taken on a tremendous amount of work,” he said, much of which could be done by an assistant principal. “I don’t want you to think an assistant principal isn’t something we need. We eventually do need that, because there’s a lot of stuff that we’re doing for kids. As you see these people around town, thank them for what they’re doing, and as you move forward with AD spot, think of that. The water isn’t over our noses yet, but there are a lot of things that are happening.”
