BOOTCAMP - Essentials of Financial Management & Administration 2023-2024

Anne Arnold is Treasurer/CFO at Gibsonburg Exempted Village Schools in Sandusky County.   She oversees the financial operations of the district with a general fund budget of almost $11 million dollars.

Before coming to Gibsonburg, Anne was the Treasurer/CFO at Edison Local School District in Milan and prior to that at Benton-Carroll-Salem in Oak Harbor. 

Anne graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism.  After a career in retail management, she decided to pursue public education and became the Accounts Payable Coordinator at Fremont City Schools.  While there, she obtained her School Treasurer’s License in May 2003. 

Anne has been involved with OASBO for many years and has served on a number of committees, served as an officer for the Northwest Chapter and been a presenter at several professional development meetings.  She was also named Outstanding Treasurer/CFO of the Year for 2017. 

Anne lives in Lindsey, Ohio with her husband and son.  In her spare time, she enjoys day trips with her family and friends and spending lots of time at the lake.

Ms. Wessendorf-Wortman is a shareholder with the firm. She advises clients on a variety of educational law matters including labor and employment issues, student discipline and rights, special education and 504 matters, relationships with school resource officers, serving transgender students, employee misconduct and investigations, booster matters, and general school law practice. She is a member of the firm’s Special Education and Workers’ Compensation Practice Teams. Ms. Wessendorf-Wortman has served as a lead negotiator in bargaining and defended boards of education in arbitration, court cases, special education mediation, and due process hearings. She has represented school boards before a variety of federal and state administrative agencies, including the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, the State Employment Relations Board, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

Ms. Wessendorf-Wortman is a frequent presenter at professional conferences, and at administrator and staff in-service trainings on a variety of topics including annual legal updates, professional ethics and codes of conduct, implicit bias, relationships with school resource officers, managing booster groups, serving students with disabilities, employee leave matters, and handling employee misconduct.

Ryan Jenkins has been an Ohio school treasurer since 2007.  He currently serves as the Treasurer/CFO for the Olentangy Local Schools.  Ryan began his career in education over 25 years ago, and has also served as a high school math teacher, high school assistant principal and a middle school principal during his time in education.

Matt Feasel has been facing the issues of school finance for over thirty-six (36) years now.  Currently he is serving as CFO/Treasurer of the Pike Delta York Local School District in Northwest Ohio.  Prior to that, Matt’s professional path has taken him through the Perrysburg Exempted Village, Hilliard City, Fremont City and Elmwood Local Schools.

Matt has served as the OASBO President during the 1997-98 year.  He remains an active member of OASBO serving on several committees.   He’s a past board of education member serving eight (8) years as a member of the Elmwood Board of Education in Wood County.  He enjoys working with K-12 Business Consulting and school business professionals across the state, providing forecasting and treasurer search services.   Mentoring new treasurers and providing needed and necessary professional development have been a high priority for him his entire career.  He enjoys playing golf, traveling and spending time with his family and seven (7) grandchildren.   

Katie Johnson is the Deputy Executive Director of Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO). As Deputy Executive Director, Katie serves as the advocacy lead for the association and as in-house legal counsel, keeping staff and members abreast of legal and regulatory compliance issues in school business. In addition, she develops curriculum to support OASBO’s strategic plan and the Ohio school business profession.

Prior to joining OASBO, Katie represented school districts as a public finance attorney, focusing her practice on serving as bond counsel and underwriter's counsel in debt and lease financings and as general counsel for Ohio political subdivisions. Specifically, Katie worked with school districts on bond issues, note issues, leases, tax levies, public records and other matters of concern to school business officials.

Katie also serves on boards and committees focused on public finance, including serving as a member on the Finance and Appropriations Committee for Columbus City School District, as Treasurer of the Confluence Community Authority, and as President of the Ohio Chapter of Women in Public Finance. 

Jennifer Bruns is the Treasurer/CFO for St. Henry Consolidated Local Schools where she has served since January 2016. Prior to coming to St. Henry Consolidated Local Schools, Jennifer served as the Chief Financial Officer of Riverside Local School District in Logan County. Before beginning a career in school finance, Jennifer spent fifteen years working for the Ohio Auditor of State's Office and supervised numerous financial audits.

Jennifer has been active in OASBO for many years. She is a past President of the West Central OASBO Chapter, and currently serves as the Chair of the Auditor of State OASBO Committee and as the Northwest Regional Director on the OASBO Board of Directors.  Jennifer is a graduate of Bluffton University with a Bachelor Degree in Accounting. 

Cynthia Ritter is a School Business Consultant with K-12 Business Consulting, Inc. and Grant Consultant to Envision Ed Plus. Cynthia has served as a consultant to Ohio Department of Education with the Academic Distress Commissions and Education Reform. She has over 32 years of successful leadership and management experience as treasurer/CFO for several school districts.

She has been a member of the Education Standards Board Ohio Department of Education, OASBO Board President, served on the Auditor of State Regional Advisory Committee, Board member and treasurer of the Pickaway County Employees Benefit Program, speaker and presenter at numerous OSBA, BASA, OASBO and ASBO seminars.

She has received many awards and recognitions including the Rich Unger Professionalism Award, Distinguished Service Award and was a Herb Brum Scholarship recipient.

Mrs. Griffith has 21 years of experience in Ohio public school district finances. Prior to Whitehall, she served as the Assistant Treasurer of Olentangy Local School District, a position she held for over 5 years. She began her career in school districts at Circleville City Schools where she was Assistant Treasurer for 9 years before going to Dublin City as Certified Payroll Clerk, then Payroll Supervisor at Chillicothe City Schools, and treasurer at Belpre City Schools. Mrs. Griffith received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from DeVry University, Columbus, Ohio.

Amelia Gioffredo is the Treasurer/CFO in the Amherst Exempted Village School District. Amelia oversees the Treasurer's Office and is directly responsible for Amherst's financial operations.

Before coming to Amherst, Amelia was the Treasurer/CFO of Fremont City Schools for over three years.  Previously, she served as Assistant Treasurer at Strongsville City Schools for five years.

Amelia received her undergraduate degrees from Bowling Green State University, earning a Business degree in Accounting and Arts & Sciences degree in Fashion Merchandising.  She is currently attending Baldwin Wallace University, working towards an MBA in Business Analytics. Amelia has been involved in OASBO, and has served on a number of committees, served as Chapter officer and committee chair.  

Amelia is the proud mother of Joey and Ben, who are very active teenagers who love the outdoors.  When not working, she is often taking them to skate parks to ride scooters and trick bikes.

Diana focuses her practice on all aspects of public law, including government relations, litigation, education law, employment, regulatory, and compliance matters. As part of her practice, she counsels small and large companies, government organizations, and nonprofit entities on legislative and legal matters in a diverse range of industries. She also has experience in all aspects of litigation, including pleadings, motion practice, discovery, and trial preparation.

Before attending law school, Diana worked in Washington, D.C. for a member of Congress where she staffed key committees including the House Committee on Rules, the Judiciary Committee, and the Energy and Commerce Committee. She also worked at a government relations firm in Washington, D.C. where she represented clients before Congress and the Executive Branch on a variety of federal issues, including those related to health care, education, and transportation.

Matt Stout is a partner in Bricker Graydon's Public Finance group and practices in the areas of public finance and public law, emphasizing school and local government law. He assists and advises with the documentation and issuance of general obligation and revenue bond transactions for municipalities, school districts, and other political subdivisions; assists and advises municipalities, school districts, and other political subdivisions with tax-exempt lease purchase financings; and provides general counsel assistance to political subdivisions.

Becky started her career as the assistant treasurer for her Alma Mater, Martins Ferry City Schools. After 12 years, she accepted the treasurer/CFO position for the Wellsville Local School District. Her love of the Central Ohio area found her accepting the assistant treasurer position at the fastest growing school district in the state of Ohio - Olentangy Local Schools. After a year and a half she was promoted to the Treasurer/CFO role. The district grew over twice its size to over 16,000 students under her financial leadership. After nine years with Olentangy Schools, she was recruited by the New Albany-Plain Local Schools and has been with this district for ten+ years. Becky has had the fortune of leading districts considered both wealthy and poor which gives her a unique perspective on the various challenges diverse districts face.

During these career transitions, Becky also helped lead OASBO. She held the offices of Board Southeast Region Director, Vice-President, President Elect, President and Immediate Past President. Through the years she has served on numerous committees and continues to serve on the Legislative Committee as well as many focus committees. Becky is also asked to speak on a variety of topics not only for OASBO seminars but other state organizations as well. 

Currently Treasurer/CFO of Benjamin Logan. Prior to Benjamin Logan, Jennifer was assistant treasurer for Lima City Schools and Fiscal Support/Treasurer for NOACSC, the ITC that serves North West Ohio school districts.  Before public service, she worked in the financial industry for 10 years. Jennifer also currently serves on the OASBO Board as the At Large Director of Transportation.

Andrew Geistfeld joined the Upper Arlington City Schools as Treasurer/Chief Finance Officer in November 2005. Prior to joining Upper Arlington, he was the Treasurer of the Olentangy Local School District in Delaware County. He has served in public school districts since 2001 in various capacities. Before working for public schools he worked in the private sector as a Senior Manager with the accounting firm, KPMG.

Throughout his time in education, he has been committed to being a good steward of public funds. He is Past-President of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) and was named its 2022 Outstanding Treasurer of the Year. He is also a member in the Government Finance Officers Association.

Geistfeld is a graduate of the Upper Arlington City Schools. He received a Master of Business Administration from Mount Vernon Nazarene University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from The Ohio State University. He also is a certified public accountant.

With many years of experience in the investment industry, Joe has had exposure to both equity and fixed income markets. Much of this time has been spent working with fixed income products and portfolios. He brings a focused and detailed approach to portfolio management.

Much of his day-to-day involves working closely with current clients and fostering new relationships. His experience in portfolio management combined with the knowledge of relevant sections of Ohio Revised Code gives him the ability to serve RedTree’s clients to the fullest.

Originally from Tampa, FL where he spent most of his childhood, Joe now resides in Northern Kentucky with his wife, Rachel, their daughter, Rosie, and two dogs, Overton and Sable. He enjoys spending time with friends and family, hiking, golfing, and when time allows, traveling the world.