By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
CONNEAUT — Mary Gillespie’s journey to treasurer of the Conneaut Area City Schools district began in a cafeteria.
Gillespie, who assumed the job this month, is a 17-year district employee who began her career in education by helping to feed hungry students.
“I started in the kitchen,” she said.
She would go on to wear other hats, including library clerk, secretary in the Office of Special Services and — most recently — four years as assistant treasurer
Along the way, Gillespie honed and nurtured her affinity for figures and accounting. She grew accustomed to ledgers and numbers while doing the books for her ex-husband’s business.
That experience and talent bloomed while working for the school system.
“Something kind of happened,” Gillespie said. “In the Special Services office, I had to deal with grants. That’s where the interest started.”
With the encouragement of supervisors, Gillespie went to school to obtain her school treasurer’s certificate. “I received great support all the way,” she said.
Gillespie, 47, said her four-year apprenticeship under recently-retired treasurer Linda Bryan was an education in itself. “Linda was a great teacher and a great mentor,” she said.
When Bryan announced last year she would be stepping down at the end of 2009, Gilllespie was one of four applicants for the position. She was the only local candidate.
In August, the Board of Education unanimously agreed to put her in charge of the district’s treasury upon Bryan’s departure, praising her talent. “I was very lucky,” she said.
Born in Cleveland, Gillespie and her family moved to Conneaut when she was in the seventh grade. She has two children and counts a fraternal twin sister, Ruth, among her siblings.
Gillespie went to work at the district to be closer to her two children, she said. Working in the district for so many years proved valuable, she said.
“Working with all the staff and administration is very important,” Gillespie said.
When she’s not immersed in budgets and line items, Gillespie likes to travel and read, she said
Gillespie steps into the job at a particularly trying time. The Conneaut district, like others around the state, are dealing with dwindling revenue and increased operating expenses. Early last year, the school board authorized a number of cuts — including bus service for high school students — to help fight a projected deficit.
Last week, Bryan attended a seminar for school treasurers and learned relief isn’t expected anytime soon. The budget crisis isn’t just a local concern, she said.
“It’s not just Conneaut,” Gillespie said. “It’s all over the state. It’s going to be tough for awhile. We were told not to expect any swings until 2012 at the earliest.”
Many districts, Conneaut included, have been counting on federal stimulus money to keep the lights on and doors open. School officials are anxious to learn if the funding will continue — and at what level, Gillespie said.
Districts are also imploring state lawmakers to rework the state’s school funding formula, determined to be unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court many years ago.
“(Legislators) are going to have to help the districts,” Gillespie said. “So many of us need assistance.”
As treasurer, one of Gillespie’s responsibilities is to prepare a five-year financial forecast for the district. With so many variables and unknowns, predicting the schools’ money situation five years in the future can be tricky business, she said. Taxes must be computed and sources of income must be projected.
Gillespie’s immediate priorities for the office? “I want to continue to work through the transition, keep things working smoothly and build a good relationship with the superintendent’s office,” she said.
A capable, veteran staff and the backing of the school board are big plusses, Gillespie said.
“The school board has been great,” she said. “I have a lot of respect for the board. And the staff has been a great help during the transition.
“I’ve enjoyed great support within the district and in my family,” Gillespie said.
