School District Cuts ADs, Gives Duties To Assistant Principals

Lansing State Journal

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20130523/SPORTS/305230067/Lansing-cuts-athletic-directors-at-high-schools?nclick_check=1

The Lansing School District is eliminating its high school athletic directors and shifting their duties to assistant principals.

Eastern athletic director David Panici and his counterpart at Sexton, Jarrod Beebe, both told the Lansing State Journal Thursday their jobs are being cut as part of the new teachers’ contract. Everett AD Cindy Short died in February.

Lansing schools spokesman Bob Kolt said the role of athletic director isn’t being eliminated, just redistributed.

“It’s an administrative function, and the assistant principals will be the ones handling (AD) duties,” Kolt said.

An estimated 87 to 90 teaching positions will be lost, per the new five-year contract, ratified in late March.

Panici and Beebe are part of the teachers’ union, though their full-time responsibilities are as athletic directors. Panici plans to retire after 27 years at Eastern, the past five as AD, rather than return to the classroom. Beebe, Sexton’s AD the past seven years, is hoping to his tenure will lead to an elementary teaching position within the district.

Neither believes those who made the decision understand what goes into being an athletic director.

“To run a basketball game at (Don Johnson) Fieldhouse, it takes about 20 people to pull it off,” Panici, 56, said. “I don’t know how they’re going to do it, because it cost me a lot of beer for friends to come help out. And in Jarrod’s case, his family did a lot of it. His mom was at every game and stepdad and other parts of his family were always there, helping out.

“All I can say is good luck, because they have absolutely no idea what we do and the amount of time that we put in. It’s going to be real interesting.”