The Baker School District plans to hire a full-time athletic director who would work year-round.

The salary range, on a 260-day contract, is listed at between $95,193 to $116,039.

The current athletic director is Tim Smith, a 20-year teacher at Baker High School. Smith teaches science classes for three periods of his day and the other three are dedicated to his work as athletic director through an extra-duty contract.

Smith is employed on a 174-day annual contract as are other teachers.

The current athletic director’s extra-duty contract includes stipends ranging from $4,956 to $6,019 in two separate payments, one for fall sports and one for winter sports. Smith is at the top of that extra-duty scale. He receives a full-time teaching salary in addition to his athletic director stipends, Superintendent Mark Witty said.

The “restructuring” plan came to the Baker School Board as a recommendation from Witty after an outside organization reviewed policies and procedures, including those pertaining to hiring and investigatory practices, as they pertain to athletics.

The Board agreed during a March 19 meeting to seek an audit of how District policies are followed when complaints are made against employees.

At that meeting, after convening in an executive (closed to the public) session, the Board moved to open session at which directors upheld Witty’s decision to fire Warren Wilson from his extra-duty roles as assistant baseball coach and head volleyball coach at Baker High School.

Wilson was dismissed after investigations by the Baker School District and the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission found he violated professional standards in his conduct with girls on his JV basketball team at Baker High School during the 2015 season.

That led the Board to seek the audit regarding how District polices and procedures are followed, particularly as they pertain to athletics.

At a March 19 meeting, Chris Hawkins, board chair, said he was concerned about why it was necessary for the complaints to be brought to the Board rather than being resolved at a lower level.

“How we got to this point in the first place is a little concerning to me,” Hawkins said.

He said the independent audit would look at how the district conducts hiring and background checks as well as other policies regarding public complaints and sexual harassment.

Witty recommended the Board hire a year-round administrator to serve as athletic director as a result of the audit conducted by J. Hank Stebbins, an attorney with the Garrett, Hemann & Robertson Inc. firm in Salem.

Witty said the audit showed administrators need more training regarding Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination against students.

Witty said Stebbins also recommended the district have one person designated as a Title IX investigator, rather than several administrators. Barry Nemec, the district’s special education director, will fill that role.

Moving the athletic director’s position, which traditionally has been held by a teacher on special assignment, to that of a full-time administrator, would give the person more authority, Witty said.

“As an administrator, clearly there’s a separation of expectations and responsibilities,” Witty told the Board.

While moving the job to an administrative level isn’t yet common at the 4A school level, there is a move in that direction.

At the 5A and 6A level in Oregon — schools with larger enrollments than Baker’s — most athletic directors are administrators, Witty said.

See more in the May 31, 2019, issue of the Baker City Herald.