De Soto School District officials have added two new administrative positions and are changing another one from part time to full time.
One of the new positions is an assistant principal and administrator of responsive services who will work at De Soto High School. The other new position is dean of students for Vineland Elementary.
School offcials also agreed to make the district’s athletic and activities director job a full-time job, rather than a part-time one.
All of the moves will be implemented for the 2020-2021 school year.
Superintendent Josh Isaacson said the changes are intended to better serve students and faculty members.
“We believe the moves will assist us in our goal to address and improve academics, as well as career opportunities for our students and achievements for our students,” he said.
Matt Deaton is the current athletic and activities director, but has split his time between those duties and assistant principal duties at the high school.
He has agreed to take the new administrator of responsive services/assistant high school principal job.
Deaton currently earns a $100,212 annual salary.
Isaacson said Deaton’s salary for next school year has not been determined, but it will be less than he makes now because he will be on a 220-day schedule instead of his current 251-day schedule.
Isaacson said Deaton’s new position is intended to address supervisory issues and discipline matters and strengthen academic opportunities for students.
District officials hope to fill the full-time athletic and activities director position in November and the Vineland dean of students position in December.
He said the district is only adding a dean of students at Vineland and not at the district’s other elementary school, Athena, because Vineland has a much larger enrollment.
As of September, Athena had 509 students enrolled, and Vineland had 773, Isaacson said.
The salary for the dean of students will be $55,000, Isaacson said.
That person will address student discipline and take on other responsibilities, district officials said.
Isaacson said the salary for the full-time athletic and activities director position will be in the $80,000 to $85,000 range, depending on experience.
The full-time AD will be asked to take on additional responsibilities, including “seeking additional funds for student activities,” Isaacson said.
Board of Education members voted unanimously Oct. 15 to add the two new administrative jobs and change the athletic and activities director job to a full-time one.