Instructional Coach Kathi Keefer (Bullis) has stepped in as Wenatchee High School’s dean of students for an undetermined amount of time, Principal Bob Celebrezze said in an email Monday.

Dean BJ Kuntz is on family medical leave, according to Celebrezze. She is expected to be gone for a couple weeks, possibly through winter break.

“It was a natural fit for [Keefer] to step into that role,” Celebrezze said. Keefer has administrative credentials from prior jobs, and has substituted for assistant principals in the past. She also already has easy access to Skyward, an important component to the dean’s job. “It was an easy transition for her.”

Keefer’s duties as dean of students will include keeping track of truants, tardies, and attendance, working on student success, especially for students who need help passing classes, and cafeteria supervision duty, for which she will be taking over Kuntz’s shifts.

Keefer previously taught at Pioneer and Orchard middle schools in the Wenatchee School District in subjects including English, special education, social studies, AVID, and math. She joined WHS this school year as the instructional coach. There is no replacement for her position.

Keefer was asked by Celebrezze to fill in for Kuntz for several reasons, especially because she was a full-time faculty member who was not teaching students. While other people had been interested in filling in, they were all currently teaching or had a direct role with kids, Celebrezze said.

“I didn’t put a whole lot of thought [into it],” Celebrezze said. “She was a natural pick.”