The Fox C-6 School District’s next chief financial officer will start about a month and half before the 2023-2024 school year’s budget is set.
The district has hired Amy Vandevender to replace John Stewart, who will retire on June 30.
Vandevender, who works in corporate finance, is scheduled to begin her new job with Fox on May 15 and will work with Stewart until then to create the budget for the next fiscal year, which will run from July 1 through June 30, 2024.
She will be paid $18,173.05 for her work at the Fox district for the rest of the current fiscal year and will earn a $135,000 annual salary next fiscal year.
“Amy brings a strong financial background with her to Fox,” Superintendent Paul Fregeau said. “She has managed budgets the size of ours with success.
"She also brings valuable experience in regard to increasing revenue streams through donations at the higher education level, which has the potential to benefit Fox C-6.”
Vandevender currently works as a client accounting manager at Cushman and Wakefield in Clayton. She also has worked in accounting and finance at Washington University and Webster University.
Vandevender earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
“She asked great questions and has a broad background of experience that I think will make her successful at Fox C-6,” Stewart said.
Vandevender comes to Fox as district officials try to reduce expenditures and increase revenue.
The district already has eliminated 25 teaching positions for the 2023-2024 school year through attrition by reassigning teachers to positions vacated through either retirements or resignations.
The district also eliminated one assistant principal position for the next school year, and Fregeau said there likely will be more administrative positions eliminated through attrition before the 2023-2024 school year starts.
Fregeau also said Board of Education members will be asked to cut a total of $250,000 from the budgets for Fox’s 18 schools and delay buying $500,000 worth of Chromebooks.
He also plans to ask the board to move 15 cents from Fox’s capital improvement fund to its operating fund to increase the operating budget by $1.8 million and to explore generating more revenue through facility rentals and increasing advertising opportunities at the district’s baseball, softball and football fields as well as in school gyms.
Fregeau also has recommended that board members consider placing a tax increase of $1.0207 per $100,000 in assessed valuation on the August ballot. If voters approve a $1.0207 increase, Fox’s tax levy would increase from $4.2617 to $5.2824 per $100 assessed valuation.
District officials said those financial moves are needed because Fox anticipates losing up to $5 million in state funding based on how average daily attendance will need to be reported in the future.
Fregeau said school districts have been submitting attendance numbers, which are used to determine state funding for districts, from before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But he said districts soon will have to use current numbers, and Fox’s attendance has decreased since the 2019-2020 school year, which likely will result in less state funding.
“This is a challenging position for anyone to take on, but I am confident that Amy’s diverse financial experience will provide valuable guidance to myself and the board as we navigate our financial situation,” Fregeau said.
“Throughout the interview process, Amy struck me as someone who is eager to learn and to make a difference.
“These qualities, along with her strong financial background, will help her meet the challenges facing our district.”
Stewart said he plans to cover all the district’s finances with Vandevender during their time together to help her during the transition.
“I will probably focus the most on the state funding cliff and other financial challenges that are on the horizon,” he said.