President's Perspective

Happy Fiscal New Year!

Charles Warren, AAEA Board President

I’ve used that line for over sixteen years. I even used that line when I was an accountant for a private company that had a fiscal year end of September 30th. It’s funny if you’re an accountant. At least that’s what I tell myself this time of the year.

I’m thrilled to serve as President of the AAEA for the next fiscal year. In July, I will be starting my 17th year as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Fort Smith Public Schools (FSPS). I am a CPA by trade with six years in public accounting and another fifteen years in private accounting. The informal training for my current position began as the treasurer and president of my local PTA, the District’s PTA, and Arkansas PTA. That’s how I got my foot in the door into public school finance.

I believe that I am the first AAEA President to serve that never held a teaching license. That’s an honor and a responsibility that I hold dear. I have deep respect for the role of a superintendent and principal. My dad was my elementary principal and my brother has served as a principal and superintendent.

When you look at the membership roll of AAEA, you see that the “Administrator” in AAEA has expanded to include a number of us “classified employees.” An Arkansas administrator may have a title of facility director, food service director, or transportation director. These directors may have never served in the classroom. For many years now, the school business officials of AAEA make up the largest constituency group. I hope to highlight some of the work done by these operational leaders this fiscal year.

Whether you are in public education or not, we all know what a superintendent does. We all know what a principal does. However, a “general business manager” is not a common job title. Sure, Arkansas law 6-15-2302 uses the term of “general business manager” for the position responsible for the fiscal operations of a school district. Sure, that title is sometimes used on business cards. But I’ve seen many of us with various titles such as CFO, district comptroller, district treasurer, business manager, and even assistant superintendent. Technically, my first job title at FSPS was Director of Financial Services. I like to use the term “school business official” (SBO) and will often refer to that term for the next twelve months.

While almost all superintendents and principals come from the classroom, this is not so for SBOs. There are some that do move from the classroom to the business office. Many come from what I call the “real world.” They have worked in accounting offices for private or public companies. They’ve run payroll or kept the books in the real world and then had an opportunity to move into public education.

At FSPS, our business office administrators come from a variety of backgrounds:

• Angie Davis is a CPA that joined FSPS many years ago. She stopped to raise two daughters, with both becoming physicians. She returned to FSPS and now leads a talented payroll team that ensures we are all paid twice a month. No pressure there.

• Craig Tecmire is a military man. He studied logistics while in the Navy. He briefly moved to the classroom after he retired from the Navy. That combination of classroom experience and procurement expertise keeps our Purchasing Department on course, full steam ahead, pun intended.

• Bryan Hewitt started in the business office with no real accounting background. I admire the fact that he is a self-made accountant. He listened and learned from the great mentors that preceded me. After 25 years at FSPS, he can rattle off budget unit numbers so fast I can’t keep up. He is the model of the SBO that become an expert by just doing it.

All of these SBOs will tell you that closing the books in June and starting a new fiscal year in July is hard work. I was told when I was hired to start July 1, 2009 that the business office is busiest during the summer months when school is out. I was cautioned that vacations must be carefully planned if they are taken at all. Payroll is overwhelming in June and accounting isn’t any easier in July.

Please remember us SBOs this summer and Happy Fiscal New Year!