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Board narrows list for treasurer to three
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Beachum
By Denise Dick
Youngstown
The list of applicants for city school-district treasurer has been whittled to three finalists in the school board’s second attempt to select someone for the job.
Lock P. Beachum Sr., school board president, said the board interviewed four finalists, narrowed from 15 applicants, during the last two weeks.
A fourth finalist withdrew from consideration last week after his wife accepted a job out of state.
Board members will invite candidates for a round of second interviews.
“I hope we have someone in place by early September,” Beachum said.
The finalists:
Annette Harmon of Orange Village, Ohio, assistant treasurer, East Cleveland City Schools.
Leonard Greg Slemons of Canfield, treasurer/CFO, Orange City School District.
Michele Smith of Warren, Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow.
It’s a crucial time for the district as it’s asking voters to renew a levy in November, the student-count that determines start funding occurs the first week in October, and finances are tight.
The former treasurer, William Johnson, retired July 31, and the board previously had four finalists to replace him.
Last May, though, the Academic Distress Commission, appointed to guide the district out of academic difficulty, directed the district to conduct a new, national search for a treasurer. At that same meeting, the commission placed Johnson on paid administrative leave through the remainder of his contract. The commission chairwoman had declined to comment about the reasons for either move.
Beachum hopes a representative from the Mahoning County Educational Service Center will participate in the next set of interviews. The ESC treasurer served as interim city school treasurer after Johnson’s departure.
Beachum sent copies of the applicants’ resumes to the Academic Distress Commission.
Aside from the required education and licensure, the board president said the important qualifications for the job are the knowledge and ability to develop an accurate five-year forecast, to maintain fiscal accountability and to communicate about the district’s financial well being with the school board, superintendent and assistant superintendent for human resources, the Ohio Department of Education and the academic commission.
Johnson earned about $84,000 annually, but Beachum said there’s been no discussion of salary for a new treasurer.