Should the CFO report directly to the board?

It is hard to say for sure what would have happened, but this move below, as reported by Call Newspapers this week may have been the single event in 2006 that would have prevented Mehlville’s budget problems as we saw them a few months ago.  I did mention this motion to David Hunne from the Post Dispatch when he interviewed me about Mehlville’s budget situation, but he must not have found it significant to his story.

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Board member Karl Frank Jr., who in 2006 made an unsuccessful motion to have the CFO report directly to the board, reiterated that position on July 31.

“When we were in limbo right before (former Superintendent) Dr. (Tim) Ricker was leaving and right before (former interim Superintendent) Dr. (Jerry) Chambers was going to take over, there was a motion on the table for this to take place, to have the CFO report directly to the board as an extra level of financial accountability,” Frank said. “… In Ohio, I believe, the whole state is required to have the CFO report to the board … Illinois does it, too …

“I think it’s something that future boards should definitely consider. (Superintendent) Terry (Noble) has already taken responsibility for any numbers that have been presented to us anyway. So I think it would be something we should do. Obviously, the board can do whatever they want … I would prefer that if we were going to implement these recommendations that the next time we’re in a transition period with the CFO, that’s something that a future board do.”

“And quite frankly, I think we do have that relationship now because I’m not op-posed at all to our CFO reporting regularly to you and fielding questions from you,” Noble said. “We do that now. So, in a sense, we’re doing that. I think what Karl is referring to is an actual job description that says that I don’t supervise the CFO and the board does.”

“From speaking with Al Kirchhofer of Daniel Jones & Associates, I think that’s what he means by this recommendation …,” Frank said.