SBO Perspectives

No matter where you are in the world, the job of an SBO has many of the same challenges. Stephen Morales, CEO of the Institute of School Business Leadership in the United Kingdom, highlights those challenges faced by SBOs in the UK, ongoing funding equity issues for students and why the current political turmoil has made it so challenging for meaning progress in public education.

How familiar are you with your budget? What about your district and building leaders? Howie Barber, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations at Old Rochester Regional School District in Massachusetts takes us on his journey of becoming and SBO and why he’s implemented Zero Based Budgeting at his District. His take on diving into each budget line every year demonstrates the importance of knowing your budget inside and out while addressing the needs of students budget by budget.

We’ve had our fair share of SBO's on the podcast who are passionate about the work they do but few come close to Cindy Reilmann, Director of Finance at Francis Howell R-III SD. A major proponent of ASBO International and one of 2022’s Eagle Award winners, Cindy shares her SBO experiences and why she loves the work so much.

Today we sit down with the head honcho of ASBO International, Executive Director David Lewis. Find out all about what the organization does for its members and what is on the horizon for membership growth and professional development opportunities!

It’s not every day we speak to someone who was instrumental in contributing to a state’s education funding formula but we lucked out! Ryan Pendleton, Executive Director at North Coast Shared Services Alliance joins us to speak about how his contributions influenced Ohio’s state funding mechanism and how to best communicate to your BOE and community.

Would you be willing to take over the top position of your school district if the occasion presented itself? What if you still had to be the SBO and Human Resources Director? That’s exactly what Dr. Jeremy Lonneville, Interim Superintendent at Livonia Central School District is juggling with right now! He’s had a tremendous experience so far and has some interesting insights on the Superintendency and SBO relationship.

Today we’re taught that it’s always important to keep our purpose and the “why” of what we do in the forefront of our minds. Aubrey Kirkpatrick, Director of Finance and Administration at Anglophone East School District is incredibly passionate about his work and clues us into why it’s so important.

History does tend to repeat itself and the same applies to public education and school business. Dr. David Bein, Assistant Superintendent for Business Services/CSBO at Barrington 220 Community Unit School District in Barrington, IL peels pack the pages of history and sheds some light on the challenges we’ve faced in the past. Check out the two articles Dr. Bein refers to (The Fundamentals of Internal Controls by Charlotte A. Montgomery (11/21) and Developing a Simple Communications Strategy By Nan Wodarz, EdD (7/22).

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We always love it when we have the opportunity to record live, but this one in particular was very special to SBO Perspectives. To kick off our partnership with ASBO International, we spoke to SBOs from across the country to get their feedback on this year’s conference. Hunker down and tune in to hear from your peers, nationwide!

Many of us were not prepared for the GASB 87 reporting requirements for the fiscal year end of 2022. However, we have experts in the field of auditing with PKF, O’Connor Davies, LLP to break down GASB 87 and provide tips to get ready for GASB 94 and 96 for the end of this year!