Pleasant Valley School District has a new athletic director.

The school board approved hiring James Korcienski for the position during their meeting on Thursday night. He replaces Kyle Bonser, who left in early September.

Korcienski has 26 years of experience in education. He comes to Pleasant Valley from the Bethlehem Area School District, where he has worked for 22 years as a middle school science teacher, assistant football coach, assistant softball coach, and for the last eight years as the middle school athletic director.

Korcienski is very familiar with the school district, because his three children went to school there and graduated from Pleasant Valley High School. Two of his children also attended classes at Monroe Career and Technical Institute and are successful in their fields, and the third went on to become a nurse.

Korcienski said he decided to make the move, because “I’m just ready to take my next step as I move through my career in education.”

This is the second time he applied for the job. He applied earlier this year when the athletic director position became open after Tom Toth left in February.

“I’m ready to take on the reins,” he said. “I’m going to learn a lot, but I’m also going to share what I’ve learned.”

Korcienski start date is yet to be determined. A salary of $95,000 was approved for the position.

Resignations

The school district also approved the resignations of Justine Curcio, a world languages teacher at PVHS; Kevin Mullen, a school counselor at PVHS; and Joanne Massa, substitute custodian, as well as the retirement of Richard Ochs, a German language teacher at PVHS.