Adam Fischer has been named the new Activities Director for Washington High School and Middle School, effective July 1, 2025. The Board of Education approved the hiring during its monthly meeting on Wednesday, February 19.

Fischer replaces Bill Deckelman, who will retire following the 2024-25 school year after serving for 20 years as Activities Director.

Fischer currently is the Secondary Special Education Program Coordinator for the School District of Washington, a role he has held for two years. He’s also currently an assistant coach for the WHS boys basketball team. This is his 12th year with the SDOW. He has been in education as a teacher, coach and administrator for 15 years.

“It’s an exciting endeavor with it being a different position within the school district. I’ve been in special education for 15 years. I love special education. I love working with the families, students and teachers. It’s hard to leave what I’m doing because I really like it and I really like this building (district office),” Fischer said. “I just felt it was a good career choice. I’ve coached at least one sport all 15 years that I’ve been teaching. Many of those years, it was three sports. It gives me a chance to lead a different department, work with some coaches I’ve known for a long time and work with some coaches I don’t know as well. It’s a chance to lead the district to new things.

“Mr. Deckelman has done an amazing job with his years in the district. The department is in really good hands. Being an athletic director has always been in the back of my mind. I’ve always been in and around sports and activities. It’s just something that my family has been around for our entire lives.”

A 1999 graduate of St. Francis Borgia High School, Fischer attended Fontbonne University in St. Louis, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Marketing in 2003. He also played basketball at Fontbonne. He later earned his Master’s degree in Special Education K-12 from Missouri Baptist University in 2011.

“I want to thank Bill Deckelman for his 20 years of excellent leadership and dedication to our athletic and activity programs. His work has set a standard of excellence that will be felt for years to come,” said Washington High School Principal Dr. Eric Turner. “I am thrilled to work alongside Adam Fischer as he steps into this role. Adam has a long history of outstanding service to our district, a deep commitment to our students and student-athletes, and a strong focus on maintaining high expectations for our programs. I also want to recognize Julie Holdmeier (Activities Administrative Assistant) for her invaluable support and dedication, which will continue to be a key part of the department's success as we move forward into the new school year.”

While Fischer previously spent two years at Washington as an assistant boys basketball coach under Greg Dunigan, his first full-time job in education was with the St. Clair R-XIII School District, where he spent three years from 2009 to 2012 as a special education teacher and boys basketball and golf coach.

In August of 2012, Fischer began his career with the School District of Washington as a special education teacher at Washington Middle School. After one year at WMS, he joined the high school special education department, a role he held for nine years before taking over as Secondary Program Director in August of 2023.

During his time at WHS, Fischer has served as head girls basketball coach, head girls soccer coach, head girls golf coach, and assistant boys basketball coach.

“We look forward to welcoming Adam Fischer as our new Activities Director. Mr. Fischer's dedication to our students, both in and out of the classroom, strongly aligns with our Blue Jay Pride strategic plan focus areas. His leadership will continue to build on the strong foundation of excellence established by Bill Deckelman,” said School District of Washington Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Kephart. “I am confident that Mr. Fischer's passion for student success and his commitment to fostering a positive, high-achieving environment will benefit our district community.”

Having been with the School District of Washington for 12 years and heavily involved with the high school activities department during that time, Fischer is familiar with the different sports, activities and programs offered at the high school and middle school, and knows many of the coaches, advisors and sponsors.

“We’re blessed at Washington with great leadership within our coaching staffs. They’re great teachers in the classroom, they’re great coaches on the field and the court, and they really lead our students to be great young men and women,” Fischer said. “Coaching a few different sports within the district for 12 years has really allowed me to build relationships with most of the coaches. Obviously, there’s some coaches I know better than others, but I look forward to getting to know and working with all of our coaches.”

Being available for coaches and helping with their programs will be a priority for Fischer.

“I would say I’m really good at building relationships with students and staff members. I’m pretty much an open book. I’m easy for everyone - students, staff and coaches, to come talk to, whether we have to work out an issue or talk about the great things going on with our students. One of the big traits that I have is that I’m easy to talk to. I think that’s one of the biggest traits that I can carry into this position.”

Having Holdmeier’s experience in the activities office will help with the transition.

“Julie as the administrative assistant has had a few years in that position. I’ll be able to lean on her for some of the things I’m not as familiar with as far as technology, purchase orders, the budget, and things like that,” Fischer said. “The other part of the job I feel fully confident in, but definitely having someone as good as Julie there with me will be a big help.”

Fischer is eager to hit the ground running in his new role.

“First and foremost, I’ll finish the job I was hired for through June 30 and get our special education department as close to ready for the new school year in August as I can,” Fischer said. “Clearly, I’ll have conversations with Bill leading up to that time. Bill and I have not only been co-workers, but we’ve been good friends for over 20 years. We were neighbors for a long time. Bill is somebody who I’ve always respected. He’s always someone I can trust, whether it’s talking about school or sports.

“My hope is to meet with every coaching staff by the end of the school year or into June – not just the head coach, but also the assistant coaches. I want to hear about what’s great in their program, see what we can work on, see what twists or new things we can start looking in to, and just talk about their long-term forecast for the program. And also talk to them and get their views about the activities department as a whole.”

Adam’s wife, Katie, also works for the SDOW as a process coordinator at South Point, Labadie, Campbellton and Clearview. She has been with the district for 18 years.

Fischer has four children; Gabby (27), Halle (24), Drew (19) and Zoey (8).

Adam Fischer