FREEMAN

SALEM — Salem high school girls head soccer coach Matt Freeman is the new athletic director for Salem City Schools.

The school board hosted an emergency session Thursday at the administration building off of Cleveland Street where members approved Freeman’s resignation as Quaker Tech Academy Director and transportation supervisor and then approved hiring him for the A.D. post vacated Tuesday by Todd Huda, who left for a job as assistant high school principal at United Local.

The board approved a two-year contract for Freeman for $73,500 each year beginning Aug. 1 and expiring July 31, 2020, based on the recommendation of Superintendent Dr. Joe Shivers.

Freeman, who’s been with the district for several years, will remain in his coaching position this fall. Before coaching the girls, he previously coached the boys varsity squad.

When asked if there would be a conflict between coaching and serving as A.D., board President Steve Bailey said no. Board vice president LuAnn Haddad commented there’s some precedent in the past for that, since Huda was track coach when he was hired as A.D. and continued coaching for that year. The team will get Freeman’s full attention this year.

Freeman’s hiring as A.D. and resignation from the other two posts had been on the agenda for a special meeting held Monday, but all the items were pulled after the board expressed a desire for more information concerning the time needed for the Quaker Tech and transportation positions and whether Freeman would have time to be both A.D. and Quaker Tech Academy Director, along with his coaching duties.

The original plan called for Freeman to first resign as Quaker Tech Director and transportation supervisor, then for Todd McLaughlin to be hired at a salary of $16,480 for one year to perform the part-time duties of transportation director, along with his assistant junior high principal job which pays a separate salary. Shivers recommended the hiring of Freeman as athletic director for a three-year contract, with a salary of $75,000 the first year starting Wednesday, $76,500 next year and $78,030 the third year. Freeman was then going to be hired as Quaker Tech Academy Director for a salary of $11,000 for one year.

According to Shivers, the plan to combine duties would have saved $68,000.

When asked about the change in the length of Freeman’s contract and reduction to the amount for the A.D. position, Bailey said what the board has been trying to do with administrators is start them out with two-year contracts at the same set amount for each year of the contract, then the salary can be adjusted after the contract comes up for renewal.

He said the board is still waiting for additional information regarding the positions for transportation supervisor and director of Quaker Tech Academy, the online school available through Salem City Schools and the time necessary to do those positions.

Bailey said hopefully within the next couple of weeks the board will be able to take action to fill those posts. They weren’t as pressing as the A.D. position, considering the seasons for the fall sports begin in another week or so. The first day of school is Aug. 22.

The board also met in executive session for personnel, but no action was to be taken. The board’s next regular monthly meeting is set for Aug. 20 where they’ll likely take action on new cell phone usage policy.

During the meeting Monday, the board agreed to a settlement with SprinTurf, the company which installed the artificial turf and new track at Reilly Stadium. The board had to hire a separate company to finish the track last year and recently agreed to the amount for the final payment to SprinTurf.

mgreier@salemnews.net