After a trial run that lasted less than a year, the Parks and Recreation Commission and the schools have decided to eliminate the position of director of community education and recreation. The director, Kevin Mitrano, was let go May 13 and won’t be replaced. Both Parks and Rec Chair Bob O’Shea and School Superintendent Linda Dwight told the Press the shared position did not work out as well as they had hoped.
Mitrano’s school responsibilities included managing community education and Bridges, the before- and after-school program. The schools paid about two-thirds of Mitrano’s salary, which was supposed to come from program revenues. But Dwight said those revenues were less than expected because of “lack of interest and lack of options.”
The director was also responsible for Parks and Rec administrative tasks, including paying bills and collecting funds, and overseeing the beach program. The commission paid the remainder of Mitrano’s salary from program revenues and fees.
Dwight and O’Shea said the position will remain unfilled as both the schools and Parks and Rec go in different directions to fill their needs.
School administration is considering outsourcing Bridges to a private firm that also does community education programs for children, and collaborating with Fivesparks, the arts and cultural organization housed in the old library, for adult community education.
Time for a full-time rec director?
At a May 23 Parks and Rec meeting, O’Shea told members it was time for the town to have a full-time recreation director. He said that person could also serve as the beach director, eliminating the need for the annual search that came up empty this year. Member Marisa Steele asked what would fill 40 hours when the director wasn’t busy with the beach. O’Shea said he probably spends about 40-50 hours a week on Parks and Rec tasks, and member Keith Bilafer said he spent eight hours last week and four hours earlier that day on fields. Discussions about the position will continue at the commission’s next meeting, and if approved, members will begin working on a job description.
O’Shea said if the commission waits until Town Meeting next year to ask the town to approve a rec director position, it would be too late for a new hire to get the 2023 beach program up and running. He said he hopes to find a way to hire someone for Jan. 1, 2023, with some funding possibly coming from this year’s unused beach director salary.
In the meantime, the schools’ summer programs will be managed by Hildreth Elementary School Associate Principal Melissa Niland. Since this summer’s beach programming will be run by Marcus Lewis, who manages the Mirror Lake waterfront in Devens, Parks and Rec is left only with the administrative tasks Mitrano was doing for them, and O’Shea said that will fall back onto him until more volunteers can be found for the commission. Although O’Shea intended to step down from the commission when his term ends on June 30, he said will likely stay to fill the final year of Michele Lauria’s term. Lauria left Parks and Rec a few weeks ago for personal reasons.
