Boone County Watchdog: 12/08/21

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Financial Chief Greg Brown leaves District 100 for Rockford

Greg Brown

ROCKFORD SCHOOL BOARD

Experienced Chief Financial Officer Joins RPS 205 Leadership Team

Rockford Public Schools

NOVEMBER 22, 2021 2:11 PM

Belvidere School District’s longtime finance leader Dr. Greg Brown will join Rockford Public Schools next month as its Chief Financial Officer and member of the district’s leadership team.

Belvidere School District’s longtime finance leader Dr. Greg Brown will join Rockford Public Schools next month as its Chief Financial Officer and member of the district’s leadership team. Dr. Brown will replace Chief Financial Officer Michelle Jahr when she retires in December.

Dr. Brown has worked as CFO for the Belvidere School District since 2009. He has a master’s degree in education and a Doctor of Education degree in leadership in educational administration. He holds superintendent certification and chief school business official certification.

“Dr. Brown has clearly demonstrated success at Belvidere,” said RPS 205 Chief Human Resources Officer Matt Zediker. “His knowledge and caliber coupled with his service on various local boards and non-profit organizations illustrate his local commitment. That combination will ensure a smooth transition for our finance department, which leads the way in ensuring our budget best supports students.”

Administration
Above is from: https://www.rps205.com/community/media-resources

Who is the new Chief Financial Officer at Belvidere Community School District ?

Well there will be an interim CFO. Here is the contract for Martin McConahay and is available at: https://go.boarddocs.com/il/district100/Board.nsf/files/C9BMC45A0656/$file/Letter%20of%20Agreement%20Belvidere%20SD%20100%202021%20Final.pdf

Agreement Between The Board of Education of Belvidere Community Unit School District #100 And McConahay Enterprises L.L.C.

This agreement is by and between the Board of Education of Belvidere Community Unit School District #100 (“District”) and McConahay Enterprises L.L.C. of Spring Grove, Illinois for the provision of independent financial consultant services by McConahay Enterprises L.L.C. to the District.

This agreement shall take effect upon formal approval by the Board of Education and expire on June 30, 2022; provided, however, either party may terminate this agreement without cause at any time before said expiration date upon two (2) weeks written notice to the other party. The parties further agree that McConahay Enterprises L.L.C. and its agents and employees shall be considered in all respects an independent contractor and not an employee(s) of the District.

Furthermore, McConahay Enterprises L.L.C. agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the District, its Board of Education, administrators, employees, agents, contractors, successors and assignees, from and against any and all costs, expenses, damages and liabilities, including actual attorney’s fees, arising out of or in any way caused by the: (1) negligent action or inaction, or willful misconduct of McConahay Enterprises L.L.C., its agents and/or employees; (2) any breach of the terms of this agreement; or (3) any violation of any applicable Federal, State or local law, rule, regulation or ordinance. The aforementioned indemnification provision shall survive the expiration or earlier termination of this agreement.

Mr. Martin McConahay, a partner in McConahay Enterprises L.L.C., will be primarily assigned by McConahay Enterprises L.L.C. to work under this agreement. The District’s Superintendent or designee shall utilize Mr. Martin McConahay’s financial consulting expertise and knowledge on a temporary, ”as needed” basis.

The parties agree that no minimum hours of work are guaranteed pursuant to this agreement, and all work performed by Mr. Martin McConahay or his designee and/or replacement shall be billed to the District on an hourly basis at the rate of $110.00 per hour. No other forms of compensation, benefits, nor on-behalf of payments are implied nor shall be made to McConahay Enterprises L.L.C. as part of this agreement. All invoiced amounts paid hereunder shall be subject to IRS Form 1099 reporting requirements.

All hours worked and duties performed shall be submitted in writing to the Superintendent or his designee for approval before being processed for payment at the Board of Education’s next regular meeting.

The terms and conditions of this agreement cannot be changed without the express written consent of both parties.

Signatures: ________________________________________ ___________________________________

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Mr. McConahay was Rockford District 205’s interim Chief Financial Officer in 2016 as witnessed by these school board minutes from District 205.

Agenda Item Details from: https://go.boarddocs.com/il/rps205/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=AFKL9B545AED

Meeting

Nov 22, 2016 - Rockford Public School District No. 205 Board Meeting Agenda

D103 board hires business manager

Veteran school finance chief will fill key role for 2019-20

by Bob SkolnikOctober 29, 2019

Martin McConahay, who will serve as D103's interim business manager, has served in similar capacities in almost a dozen other school districts after retiring from full-time work in 2007. (Bob Skolnik/Contributor)

After nearly four months, Lyons-Brookfield School District 103 finally has a business manager again.

On Oct. 22, the District 103 school board voted 6-0 to hire Martin McConahay as interim business manager. McConahay, an experienced, retired business manager, will work part time until July 1, 2020 as the school district looks to hire someone full time for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

McConahay, 69, will be paid $100 an hour and work no more than 600 hours, as his contract limits his pay from District 103 to no more than $60,000.

Working as an interim business manager is nothing new to McConahay. He’s done it 11 times since retiring as the treasurer for Wilmette Public School District 39 in 2007. Before working at Wilmette, he served as an assistant superintendent for finance in Libertyville and North Chicago. Most recently McConahay worked as an interim business manager in Naperville Community Unit District 203.

“I tried to retire and 11 times I’ve done these interims after retirement because I enjoy working in the school setting, and a lot of times schools can use financial assistance, especially on a temporary basis,” McConahay said. “It’s not easy to find permanent business managers midyear and sometimes this helps bridge the gap for them.”

McConahay said that he wants to look at the district’s tax levy and budget process while at District 103 and create a process that will more fully involve department heads and principals.

He said that he is not fazed by being greeted with a budget for 2019-20, also approved on Oct. 25, which projects an operating deficit of about $1.5 million.

“It’s certainly not the only nor the largest deficit I’ve looked at at school districts, so I can take that in stride,” McConahay said. “In fact, that’s a good challenge for me.”

McConahay has already made a good impression in his first week on the job.

“He’s a godsend,” said District 103 Superintendent Kristopher Rivera. “He’s exactly what we need right now: the right type of experience. He was able to sit down and just dive into it. It’s excellent to have him aboard. He’s just super professional, great personality, and just working very hard and very practically and is able to explain at a level that we can all comprehend so we can make some decisions.”

Riverside Elementary School District 96 Director of Finance and Operations Jim Fitton worked under McConahay about a decade ago at Golf School District 67 in Morton Grove and then succeeded McConahay as the business manager there. Fitton said that he learned a lot from McConahay.

“He’s a really nice person, very knowledgeable, always looking out for the best interest of the district,” Fitton said.

The business manager job has been vacant in District 103 since the former business manager, Sherry Reynolds-Whitaker, left on July 1 to take a job with the East St. Louis school district.

During the summer, Rivera had originally wanted to hire Donald McKinney, a former superintendent in a couple of small south suburban districts, as business manager. However, school board President Jorge Torres would not schedule a vote to make the hire.

After Brian Towne was named human resources director at the beginning of September, the school board decided to hire an interim business manager for this year and to then begin a searching for a permanent replacement next year.

Torres has said that he did not have confidence in any hiring process before Towne was hired.

Forty candidates applied for the interim business manager position, but only seven had the required Illinois chief school business official certificate. Phone interviews were done with three candidates, but only McConahay was brought in for a personal interview with Rivera, Towne and Torres. Once they met him they were sure he was the right person for the job.

“I thought he had the strongest grasp and vison for this role,” Towne said.

Rivera, who does not have a strong background in finance, said that he is very happy to have McConahay on the job. Rivera said that he now will be able to concentrate more on some of the tasks he was hired to do.

“It’s going to help immensely,” Rivera said. “There’s just been so many things that I’ve been pulled away from.”

And Rivera is glad to finally have a central office administrative team in place.

“It’s fantastic,” Rivera said. “It took a little while, but we’re here.”

Above is from: https://www.rblandmark.com/2019/10/29/d103-board-hires-business-manager/

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From Link-IN