SAD 70 OKs sports committee

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HODGDON — Students will have an opportunity to provide input on sports matters in SAD 70 after the board agreed to add a sports committee to its list of board member responsibilities.
    By creating a sports committee, which will include input from the school’s student athletic council, board members will review performances of their coaches on a yearly basis. Currently, the district opens all of its coaching positions every two years, requiring all coaches who wish to continue in their roles to re-apply for the job. Those jobs must also be advertised, costing the district money that could be used elsewhere, according to Superintendent Bob McDaniel.
    “If we have someone who is really doing a good job and things are going well, we really shouldn’t have to re-open these positions every two years,” board chairman Estela Lane explained.
    This process of reviewing coaches was done informally this spring with administrators and a couple of board members meeting with baseball and softball coaches.
    “It worked well when we tried it this spring,” said board member Joel Oliver. “If we had a coach who wanted to return, we sat down with them and asked how we could make their job better. It was a real positive thing.”
    The student athletic council members — which include one representative from each grade level in the high school — will be consulted for their input on coaches. However, the students will not be included in the interview process, nor will they have a vote in who gets hired.
    “It would be nice to get some feedback from those on the athletic council,” Lane said.
    In other agenda items, the board:
    • Approved coaching positions for Robert Sawyer, middle school girls basketball; Brian Barton, middle school boys soccer and basketball; Crystal Folsom, junior varsity girls basketball; and Mike Varney, varsity softball.
    • Learned Katharine Gergosian was hired as the Jobs for Maine Graduates specialist for the high school.
    • Hired Ruth Stewart as a high school math interventionist.
    • Re-appointed Lane as chairman; Joel Oliver as vice-chairman; and Melissa Ivey as secretary for 2010.
    • Welcomed new board members Brent Connolly and Maureen Friel.
    The board will meet Monday, July 19 at 6 p.m. in the district’s boardroom to get an update on consolidation issues with SAD 29. The next regular meeting of the SAD 70 school board is Monday, Aug. 9 at 7 p.m.