Sports

Former Novi Volleyball Coach to Serve as Interim Athletic Director

Julie Fisette will fill in for six to eight weeks after Curt Ellis' resignation.

Julie Fisette, who served as the head coach for Novi's Varsity Volleyball team for nearly 20 years, will serve as interim athletic director for the for the next six to eight weeks.

, who is taking a job in Saline, spent his last day in Novi on Thursday.

Fisette stepped down from her position as the head coach of the volleyball team in 2010 and is also a part-time applied technology teacher in Northville. She is also a registered MHSAA official and a trainer of coaches.

Find out what's happening in Noviwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

She will now spend afternoons, evenings and weekends as Novi's athletic director.

The position will be contracted until the school district finds a way to fill the position with a permanent director or by tweaking the position.

Find out what's happening in Noviwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Superintendent Dr. Steve Matthews said that the district is taking this time as an opportunity to look at the program and see if there are any changes that can be made to improve it.

"This is also a natural time with Michigan's uncertain economy and with the significant budget pressures that all schools face to consider if and how we might do things differently, share resources and look for savings," Matthews said.

The district will be taking the next few weeks to define what the position needs.

"We are taking time to analyze the position, to look to see if there's any cost savings," Matthews said. "We're also having some conversations with some other districts, with the city of Novi to see if there's some shared services possibilities. We're also taking the opportunity to talk to the high school administration staff to look at the activities portion of the high school to see if there might be a way to share some of those responsibilities with the athletic director."

If the district decides it needs an athletic director that is functionally the same as the one it had, then the administration will look to the more than 50 applicants that have already applied.


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