The Wayland Board of Education Monday evening was asked to hire a dean of students and free up the athletic director from handling freshman student discipline issues.
Head varsity football coach Mike Doupe and cross-country coach Sue Brewer appeared at the board’s work session to make the request.
Doupe said AD Santino DiCesare “is doing an excellent job, but we feel like he’s been trying to wear too many hats.”
Doupe noted Wayland has gone through five athletic director in the last 10 years, including Cheri Ritz, Kevin Zaschak, Ben Osburn, Justin Wilson and DiCesare, saying, “Which makes it less than a burnout job.”
Brewer said the AD is “overseeing a lot of the behavior issues of the freshmen… We need to make the athletic director’s position as being just that… Because of social media, the needs of administrators are different.”
Doupe added, “Nobody wants to admit that they’re overwhelmed, so we are speaking on their behalf.”
Superintendent Norm Taylor said he will look into the issue.
In other business at the work session, the board:
- Received another update on the progress of projects approved in the November 2017 bond election. Plans call for taking Wildcat Drive out of service for two weeks while the middle school parking lot is expanded to accommodate 85 more parking spaces.
The board approved spending a total of $235,000 for new furniture and shelves at the middle school.
- Listened to an extensive report from Finance Director Pat Velie about enrollment projections for the 2019-20 academic year.
She said that while a number of districts are seeing a decline in student population, Wayland seems to be holding steady. The student count this spring is 3.026, about 32 fewer than last fall, with the greatest losses in grades K-4 and 10-12.
She said that in the upper grades, “In some cases they just quit coming” and they’re hard to track.
Though some are projecting Wayland to welcome 3,145 pupils next fall — Plante and Moran accountants expect 3,190 — Velie is holding to a conservative figure, for now, of 3,056.
Supt. Norm Taylor said it’s his understanding that preschool enrollment in Wayland is up.
- Learned that the new middle school is considering offering a music appreciation class for one trimester in three sections as an alternative to choir, band or orchestra.
