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Youngstown schools count on treasurer by Sept. 1
By Denise Dick
Youngstown
Lock P. Beachum Sr., city school board president, said he hopes to have a new treasurer in place by Sept. 1.
The Youngstown Board of Education will discuss an interim treasurer at a meeting Tuesday. A contract for the Mahoning County Educational Service Center to fill that role expired Tuesday.
Beachum said two employees in the treasurer’s office have treasurer’s certificates, and one of them is likely to be appointed to the interim slot.
On Wednesday, board members will meet in special session for an update of the treasurer search.
The position has been vacant since May, when the Academic Distress Commission placed William Johnson, former treasurer, on paid administrative leave through the end of his contract, Tuesday.
The board hired a school executive search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates of Rosemont, Ill., to assist in finding a new treasurer.
That firm will provide an update Wednesday.
In a letter to board members earlier this week, Beachum said the search firm reported 17 people applied for the job including one person who had previously applied.
At the same time the academic commission placed Johnson on administrative leave, they directed the school board to conduct a national search. The board previously had worked with the Ohio School Boards Association to find a replacement for Johnson, who had planned to retire at the end of his contract.
They had narrowed that initial list of applicants to four.
“Several strong candidates have turned them down, but one very strong, but quite expensive, candidate remains interested, although there is a concern he may pull out,” Beachum wrote in the letter to board members.
The board hasn’t set a salary range for the new treasurer, and Beachum said even though the district is looking for ways to cut costs, it’s possible a new treasurer may earn more than Johnson who was paid about $84,000.
“A good treasurer is worth his weight,” the board president said.