After his position was formally eliminated as part of a series of budget cuts finalized on July 27, Tom Black will temporarily return as a part-time dean of students of Coupeville schools, Superintendent Steve King recently announced.
The Coupeville district learned earlier this month that Assistant Principal Leonard Edlund will be on medical leave until at least January 2024. To compensate for his absence, the district has made a few changes to its plans for the school year.
Black will return only temporarily to “address daily supervision and assist with discipline issues” for as long as Edlund is on medical leave, working four hours per day and 20 per week, King clarified in an email.
Black was dean of students for 30 years when his position was eliminated this summer. A community outcry failed to save his job.
If Edlund were to return in January, the temporary dean position would cost the district $16,500.
“We are thankful that Mr. Black is able to return and believe that this will be well received by our school community,” King wrote in his announcement to the district.
Black isn’t the only one affected by Edlund’s absence.
Former Coupeville teacher Susan Haldezos-Galligan — formerly Johnson — will become the interim Career and Technical Education program director for the rest of the school year, which will cost $10,000.
Special Services Director Allyson Cundiff’s contract days are being restored to eight days and eight hours per day, after being reduced last year, so that she can assist Principal Geoff Kappes with teacher evaluations. She will take care of evaluating some of the secondary teachers, King wrote, for the duration of the 2023-24 school year, and this change will cost $5,774.
In his email, King said Edlund’s absence presented an unexpected challenge that came after the budget was finalized. The final cost will depend on when he is able to return.
“This is a great example of the budget being a plan for the year and almost every year unforeseen challenges do arise and we have to be creative to try to stay within the budget that was approved,” he wrote.
