PRESIDENT PROFILE
Texas Association of Business Officials
Michele Trongaard takes the TASBO helm by James Golsan
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ew Texas Association of Business Officials (TASBO) President Michele Trongaard might not be a career educator, or even someone who’s spent her whole career in the education field, but she knows money. That’s maybe the most important qualification for leadership a TASBO president can possess, as the organization describes itself as “the trusted source for school finance and operations” in Texas. In a year following one of the most substantial overhauls of the Texas school finance system in recent memory, Trongaard will likely have to lean heavily on her experience and expertise in finance and accounting to navigate the changes now being implemented. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) by training, Trongaard’s career began at a large tax accounting firm. This might not sound like the most exciting job in the world to some, though she points out that she did work on actor Tom Hanks’ tax returns at one time. It was a desire to get out of the corporate rat race — not to mention a little nudge from her family — that lead Trongaard to work in public education.
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Texas School Business JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2020
“I was self-employed at the time, working for a millionaire, and I just wanted something different,” she says, adding that a desire to spend more time with her children was a major factor in her desire for a career change. “It was actually my sister who suggested I look into working for [Wylie ISD].” It proved to be good advice. “I started out as an accountant there for three years, was a payroll manager for another six, and was then director of finance for three months,” she says, with a laugh at the short tenure. After that, she served as the district’s chief financial officer for another three-year stretch before moving into the assistant superintendent role. Her involvement with TASBO began shortly after she was hired by Wylie ISD, due in part to some light prodding from her bosses. Recently, Trongaard was chosen to serve as associate superintendent of business and finance in Mansfield ISD. “I asked a lot of those annoying questions,” she jokes, “Lots of ‘why do we this this way,’ ‘why do we do X at all,’ because it was very different than the way I was used to doing things in the private sector. My bosses and coworkers all told me to go to the annual