Novi High's Athletic Director Gets Job in Saline

Curt Ellis, athletic director at , is leaving his position to become the Executive Director of Human Resources at

The hire was approved at a special meeting of the Saline Board of Education Monday night with a vote of 7-0.

A graduate and long-time Saline resident, Ellis is expected to begin the job in mid-September. He has held the Novi post for 11 years. Following the vote, Ellis joined the board in executive session to discussed collective bargaining issues.

Ellis has two children at Saline High School and his wife, Monica, is a special education teacher there.

“I have two children in Saline Area schools, our family has lived our entire life in the community and I graduated from Saline High School in 1985. So the idea of becoming a Hornet again is intriguing. It’s something I am excited about,” he said.

Saline Superintendent Scott Graden said that Ellis was identified as top candidate for the job early in the hiring process, and that he remained the number one candidate as the district reposted the job and re-interviewed for the position as duties associated with the position were tweaked.

“We think Curt has the talent and skills to be a successful part of this administration. He has a proven track record. Although he’s never worked in human resources, he has administrative experience and has been intimately involved in contract negotiations and has other relevant experience,” Graden said.

The position became available when the board chose to restructure the district administrative positions, eliminating the position held Tom Wall, who was assistant superintendent of for administrative services. Janice Warner, business manager for the district, will perform some of the financial work performed by Wall.

During his time as Novi High School Athletic Director, Novi teams racked up many state championships.

Ellis was a football coach at Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard high school while a junior in college when he became the school’s athletic director. From there, he moved to Tecumseh, and then to South Lyon, before taking the Novi job in 2001.