Fox C-6 School District’s chief financial officer and two other finance department employees have announced they are leaving the district.
John Stewart, who has been the district’s CFO since March 2020, has decided to retire on June 30 at the end of this school year, and on Feb. 28, the district posted on its website, foxc6.org, that it was looking to hire a new CFO.
The Fox Board of Education was expected to approve Stewart’s retirement at Tuesday’s meeting, after the Leader’s deadline.
Stewart’s announcement came on the heels of payroll manager Sherry Caldwell’s decision to leave today, March 9, as well as benefits and payroll specialist Pam Graves’ decision to leave March 30. The board voted 6-0 to approve Caldwell’s resignation as part of the consent agenda during the Jan. 17 open meeting, and board members voted unanimously to approve Graves’ retirement during the Feb. 21 closed meeting. Board member Michelle Chamberlain was absent from the Jan. 17 meeting.
Caldwell has worked for the district since June 2015, and Graves has worked there since August 2002. Caldwell’s salary this year is $63,317.27, and Graves’ annual salary is $61,914.
Stewart’s salary for this year is $150,096.75.
Superintendent Paul Fregeau said the three impending departures are no indication of a problem with Fox’s finance department.
“Our payroll person was selected for a better position in another district,” he said. “We are very proud of her and know she will be a tremendous asset to the district where she now works. Our benefits person retired from the district, and we wish her all the best. Our CFO is retiring as well, and we, too, wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
The Fox district’s financial situation has forced Fregeau to recommend ways to stabilize the budget, like reducing the number of teachers and administrators in the district, cutting a total of $250,000 from the budgets for the district’s 18 schools and delaying buying $500,000 worth of Chromebooks.
He also suggested the board move 15 cents from Fox’s capital improvement fund to its operating fund to increase the operating budget by $1.8 million.
Fregeau also recommended the board members ask voters in August to approve a tax increase of $1.0207 per $100,000 in assessed valuation. The increase would raise the district’s overall tax levy from $4.2617 to $5.2824 per $100 assessed valuation.
Mike Gross, the vice president of Parents Advocating Change for Kids, said he suspects the finance department departures are related to the district’s budget issues.
Gross, 49, of Imperial also pointed out that the PACK group is asking district voters to sign a petition that would require a Missouri State Auditor’s Office audit of the district.
Gross said he is not sure if he will vote for a tax levy increase, and the finance department departures is one of the reasons he might vote against it.
“The information that comes out of the district between now and August will determine how I vote, regardless of if the audit is scheduled or not,” he said.
Stewart, who has worked in school finances for 20 years and in accounting and finance for 30 years, said the departures of the three Fox finance department employees are not related to each other or to the state of the district’s finances.
“In fact, the Fox C-6 School District is in a stronger financial position than it has been in a long time but has some serious budget challenges looming in the near future,” he said.
Fregeau said he hopes the departures will not sway people to vote against a potential tax levy increase, adding that he has argued many times to reduce its expenditures and increase its revenues in order to stabilize the budget. “The message is still the same, and we will continue to inform our patrons of the need,” he said.
Stewart
Before Stewart, 54, of Hillsboro began working for the Fox district, he was the CFO for the Brentwood School District, beginning in 2011.
He said he has been considering retiring for a while, and it was during this school year’s winter break that he discussed the possibility with his family and a few other people and made the decision in February to retire at the end of the school year.
“Simply put, I can retire, so I’m going to,” Stewart said. “I’m looking forward to less stress in my life and being able to do some things that I haven’t been able to due to my work schedule.”
Stewart worked for 10 years in corporate accounting before his first job with a school district.
“John has done a great job at managing our fund balances to get the district in a better place financially,” Fregeau said. “He standardized some of our purchasing practices to ensure better oversight. He managed the Prop P funds in a fashion that we are able to get the most return on investment in a time of great market pricing volatility.”
Prop P is a $40 million bond issue voters approved in June 2020 to fund numerous capital improvement projects throughout the district.
“I will be leaving Fox C-6 in better financial condition than it was when I arrived three years ago,” Stewart said. “This is not solely my doing, but I have a great staff in the finance department who are the ones that made this happen. Also, the Prop P projects are some long overdue work that will improve multiple areas in the district and ultimately, affect each campus throughout the district. We have really worked hard to get the most out of the funding that was approved by the voters.”
Fregeau said he hopes the district can hire its next CFO within the next month and have that person begin working at Fox before June 30, so Stewart may help during the transition.
“I hope to find someone with experience in school finance who is also a great leader,” Fregeau said. “They will need to be able to hit the ground running as the school business does not slow down for the transition to a new CFO. I hope they will continue to work with the integrity, transparency, efficiency and vision that Mr. Stewart established.”
Stewart said two challenges the next CFO will face is the public distrust of the school district and the divided school board.
He said the distrust stems from when former Superintendent Dianne Critchlow spent taxpayers’ money on herself and those close to her, but he also believes it is time for that incident to be left in the past.
“We are 10 years and four superintendents past the ‘Fox scandal,’” Stewart said. “There are no staff members at the district level in a position of authority that were here at that time.
“A district having a board of education that is divided is not uncommon, but how the board as a whole and the individual board members deal with their disagreements can impact the culture of the whole district. If the differences are dealt with in a positive manner, it is much better for the district, students, staff and the community.”