WALLINGFORD - Christina Madancy was selected as Sheehan High School's new athletic director Monday from a pool of 17 candidates.
She will replace retired athletic director Judy Samaha.
When some board members found out that Madancy, 30, daughter of board member Nicholas Economopoulous, was in the running for the job, they questioned whether her appointment to the position would violate board and town policy on conflict of interest and nepotism.
Her father predicted that she would not get the job.
But with reassurance from board attorney Peter A. Janus, six board members voted Monday to make Madancy the new athletic director. Board Chairman Thomas P. Hennessey abstained. Economopoulos was not at the meeting.
"I think the board is OK if she is already in the district," Janus said in June.
Madancy said she was not fazed by the discussion regarding her candidacy for the position, because she does not believe that the policy applies to her. The district had already hired her as a math teacher and basketball coach before her father was elected to the board, she said.
School administrators recommended Madancy for the position, and the board acted on their recommendation.
Madancy will start as athletic director officially in the fall, she said. She, however, hopes to begin to discuss her new job with Sheehan's principal next week, she said.
As athletic director, Madancy will no longer coach the Sheehan girls' basketball team, and she said she will be earning a stipend that is less than she receives as a coach. In addition to Madancy's teaching salary, School Superintendent Kenneth V. Henrici said she would earn approximately $7,000 as athletic director.
"It's not a promotion by any means," M a d a n c y said. But a passion for athletics and a desire to see that the Sheehan athletic department continues to succeed made her want to apply for the job, she said.
While Madancy has goals as athletic director, she said she does not plan to change anything right away. She needs to get settled and learn her job, she said.