Theresa Lindsay (Provided photo)

LAKE PLACID — A major administrative shift at Lake Placid Middle-High School is underway just one week ahead of the new school year after the school’s high school principal resigned, the school’s middle school principal has been hired to also serve as the high school principal, and a new dean of students position has been created to bolster the principal’s disciplinary duties.

The Lake Placid Central School District Board of Education held a special meeting last week to approve the resignation of high school Principal Tammy Casey, the hiring of LPCSD middle school Principal Theresa Lindsay as the joint middle-high school principal and the hiring of LPCSD Athletic Director John Burdick as the dean of students, a new position. Casey, whose resignation was effective Monday, has taken a position as principal of AuSable Valley High School, according to LPCSD Superintendent Timothy Seymour.

Lindsay and Burdick will maintain their current responsibilities as middle school principal and athletic director, respectively, in addition to taking on their new roles. Seymour said this consolidation of administrative roles is a “shift in the model” at the middle-high school — where the middle school principal and high school principal have historically served as co-principals — that’s reflective of the school’s drop in enrollment. Seymour believes the shift could bring some benefits to students and district taxpayers.

“I think having the school led by a single building principal is going to bring greater clarity to expectations in terms of what the students and staff expect within the building, but then I also think it brings a degree of recognition in the drop in enrollment that’s occurred over the past 20 years,” Seymour said. “When opportunities present for us to downsize instructional staff — or, in this instance, even an administrative position … the district is willing to do that just to be fiscally responsible and accountable to taxpayers.”

While some other school districts in the Tri-Lakes area, like the Saranac Lake Central School District and the Tupper Lake Central School District, are entering the new school year with concerns about staffing shortages, Seymour told the Enterprise last week that the LPCSD isn’t dealing with that same problem because of the drop in enrollment in this district. He said that when some staff leaves the district, those positions don’t always have to be filled because the student population no longer warrants the same staffing levels as years past.

LPCSD hit its lowest enrollment in 12 years last year, with 559 students. That’s around 100 students fewer than the 2015-16 school year.

Lindsay, who begins her role as high school principal on Aug. 31 — the first day of school for LPCSD teachers — echoed Seymour’s comments that her broader role could help establish more cohesion for students in the middle-high school while acknowledging the district’s drop in enrollment.

“I think this was a long time coming,” she said.

Lindsay said that she worked closely with Casey over the summer to navigate her transition into her new role as high school principal, and Linsday said she hopes to follow through with some initiatives Casey started during her three-year tenure as principal. Lindsay listed the Blue Bomber Weekly News, a student-run radio and video program providing information about the district to students, and a new pilot program called STREAM (Science, Technology, Recreation, Engineering, Art and Math) as the two main initiatives she hopes to carry forward.

This is the pilot year of the STREAM program, according to Lindsay, which she called an “alternative education” program that will act as a pre-Career and Technical Education program that will allow students to get their regent’s diplomas while exploring alternative opportunities at the Adirondack Educational Center when they’re juniors and seniors. She said that traditional rows of desks don’t work for all students, and she thought Casey helped pilot the program to give an opportunity for students with different learning styles to be successful in school.

Both Lindsay and members of the LPCSD Board of Education voiced their thanks for Casey’s years of service in the district and said she will be missed. Casey was first hired as the district’s interim principal at the beginning of 2019 before being hired as principal later that year. She first started working in the district in 2001 as a mathematics teacher. Casey declined an interview for this story.

In Burdick’s role as dean of students, Seymour said his focus will be working with students who have behavioral or academic problems at school.

“I kind of look at it in terms of, if a student isn’t being successful either behaviorally or academically, then the first line of defense is working directly with the classroom teacher and at times the parents. Then the next line of support is going to be the dean of students to try and leverage some of our resources,” Seymour said.

If a student needs further behavioral or academic support or disciplinary action, Seymour said, “it’s going to involve the principal getting in there.”

Burdick will begin his role as dean of students on Aug. 31, and he’ll be responsible for assisting with the daily operation of the school’s attendance, behavioral management, disciplinary prevention and intervention services.