Sep. 23—Perry Schools has followed through on a succession plan intended to retain strong financial leadership in the district.
Jennifer Capo began duties as the district's chief financial officer on Sept. 1. She took over a position held for 19 years by Lew Galante.
Although Galante resigned his full-time position, he will continue to assist the district as an independent consultant.
Capo had served as the district's assistant treasurer for the past five years. Her rise to CFO was an event that the district had been counting on, said Superintendent Jack Thompson.
"We hired Jen seven years ago in what was somewhat of a succession plan for making a smooth transition when Lew moved on," Thompson said.
Capo started as an accounting manager with Perry Schools, before being promoted to assistant treasurer in 2018. During that same year, she also became certified as a school treasurer.
Eventually, Capo's expertise in school finances began to attract the attention of education leaders outside of Perry, which led to job offers, Thompson said.
"So Jen had some opportunities that she was willing to look into and potentially accept," he said. "And when our school board and Lew caught wind that that was a potential, they got together and said, 'Hey, she's ready. What can we do to get her into that (Perry Schools CFO) seat?' "
About five months ago, Perry School Board developed and approved a plan to appoint Capo as the district's chief financial officer. Galante agreed to resign, but also signed a contract to serve as a consultant.
"Lew's going to continue to provide us with financial support, human resources support, support with lobbying state legislators, and those sort of things," Thompson said.
Capo received a pay increase with her promotion while Galante, in his consulting contract, accepted a decrease in compensation compared with his previous salary.
"We were able to do this in a cost-neutral approach," Thompson said. "So we feel like we were able to solidify long-term stability in our finance department over time, and accomplished that without costing more money to the district."
Capo has taken the reins as CFO at a time when the district finds itself in a solid finance position.
"Our cash balance is very healthy," she said. "And even if we do end up in deficit spending in the next five years, we'll still be very fiscally sound (with an ample amount of operating cash)."
Thompson added that the new state budget bill had a positive impact on Perry Schools. The district's investments also are bringing in additional revenue, because of higher interest rates.