Interviews to begin for AD position
Interviews for the athletics director position for Siloam Springs School District are expected to begin today, according to Shane Patrick, assistant superintendent for district operations and interview committee lead.
The district received 27 applications and narrowed that list down five interviewees, Patrick said in an email.
The interviews are expected to begin Wednesday, Jan. 27, and be completed by the middle of next week, Patrick said.
The interview committee expects to present a recommendation to the school board at its next meeting on Feb. 11, Patrick said.
The list of interviewees includes Robert Johnson, Timothy Pezzetti, George Sitkowski, Tanya Vaughn and Jeff Williams.
Johnson is the head football coach at George Junior High in Springdale and was the head football coach at Hamburg.
Pezzetti is the athletic director for Gilbert Schools in Gilbert, Iowa.
Sitkowski is the athletics director and junior high principal in the Southside School District in Batesville.
Vaughn is an assistant principal at Bentonville High School.
Williams just completed his first season as head football coach at Pea Ridge. He was the head coach at Fort Smith Southside for 15 seasons where he won 99 games, a Class 7A state championship in 2006 and played for two more state titles in 2008 and 2009. Before coaching at Southside, Williams was the head coach at El Dorado.
The interview committee consists of Patrick, Amy Carter, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction; Rob Lindley, high school principal; Dennis Yocham, assistant principal at Siloam Springs Middle School; Randall Bolinger, director of maintenance; and Jody Wiggins, district superintendent.
The athletics director position became open when current AD Ken Harriman announced he would resign the position when his contract ran out in June.
Harriman took over the AD position on an interim basis in the fall of 2019 when Kevin Downing took an assistant athletics director position in the Bentonville School District.
Harriman was only expected to fill the spot for the 2019-20 school year but agreed to stay on for another year in light of the covid-19 pandemic. He’s in his second stint as athletics director.