PARKERSBURG - A contract upgrade for the athletic director at Williamstown High School and the hiring of more than a dozen technology specialists were among the personnel changes approved at Tuesday's Wood County Board of Education meeting.
The board voted 3-0 to upgrade Williamstown High Athletic Director Jeff Givens' 225-day contract to 261 days. Principal Pat Peters had requested the change last month, saying Givens was not being paid for the work he was doing.
The upgrade includes a pay increase of $10,606.
Though Williamstown has only about a third of the enrollment of the county's other two public high schools, Williamstown High serves grades 7-12, meaning it has both middle and high school athletic programs. That translates into hundreds of events being scheduled and supervised by the athletic director including activities with booster groups and athletic committees. The school also is in the middle of a stadium construction project being overseen by the athletic director.
The school board Tuesday also hired 13 technology positions.
Sue Woodward said the technology integration specialist and technology systems specialist positions are being paid for through the state Jobs Fund, which was made available as part of President Barack Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The integration specialists will be responsible for showing teachers how to better use technology within the classroom, and the systems specialists will work on the equipment. All positions are countywide, but will be assigned specific schools.
Woodward said the jobs will be for one year unless the school system can find a different means of funding the positions.
"They (the applicants) were aware of this when they were offered the jobs," she said.
Among the new technology integration specialists is Craig Farnsworth, former head football coach at Marietta High School.
In April, Farnsworth resigned as head coach after only a year at the school, citing a desire to spend more time with his wife. At the time he said the couple likely would be leaving the area.
A 1991 graduate of Parkersburg High School, Farnsworth began his coaching career the following year, serving as a Big Reds defensive coordinator for three years and offensive coordinator in 2001.
