Two job vacancies opened for deans on Jan. 10, one each at Niles West and Niles North. According to assistant principal of operations Steve Parnther, these will be additional dean positions; therefore, next year, there will be a total of four deans at each school.

“The purpose of hiring an additional dean at this time is to assist us with our duties of ensuring the safety of all students and staff in the building,” dean Amy Tucker said. “Because of all of the restorative work we are doing, we are finding that we need additional time to follow through on all of our duties with fidelity.”

Currently, each dean serves approximately 800 students.

“Making sure we take the time to connect with students, form relationships, and be mindful of the restorative steps we take with students requires thought, planning and time. In order to ensure that we are doing all of these things well, we need additional people so that we can spend quality time on our interventions,” Tucker said.

According to Tucker, deans communicate with students about attendance, peer/teacher relationships and conflicts. Additionally, they meet with the administrative team, teachers, counselors, other deans and psychologists/social workers in order to fully support students.

“It is very important to all of the deans to ensure that we are forming positive relationships with students and to do our jobs well,” Tucker said. “With the addition of a fourth dean, that allows us more time to do those things without rushing through them so that we can make decisions with fidelity.”

Recently, Larry Waites has been hired as an interim at Niles West.

“I found out about the position because I was a substitute here last semester, and Dr. Ritter approached me, asking if I would be interested because I was a dean in a previous life,” Waites said. “For right now, the reason I’m an interim dean is because they didn’t want to change the student caseloads in the middle of the semester, and it gives me the opportunity to see if this is something that I want to do long term.”

Waites explains that he has a “student-centered mentality,” remembering his teenage years in high school.

“I understand how important it is to socialize, but I think I bring some insight into what’s appropriate, when to do things, when not to do things, and understanding that every decision that we make has some sort of consequences: good or bad,” Waites said.

Throughout this semester, Waites will experience the role of a Niles West dean and determine if he would like to take the position for the following year.