BOOTCAMP - Essentials of Financial Management & Administration - June 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.

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.   

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.

Katie Johnson is the Executive Director of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials. Katie is the seventh Executive Director and the first woman to lead the organization since its inception in 1936.

Katie was the Deputy Executive Director for OASBO prior to being named Executive Director. In that role, she served as legislative lead and in-house legal counsel for the association, keeping staff and members abreast of legal and regulatory compliance issues in school business. In addition, she has served as the chief learning officer, developing curriculum to support OASBO’s strategic plan and the Ohio school business profession.

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 past President of the Ohio Chapter of Women in Public Finance.

Katie holds a bachelor's degree in Business Finance from the University of Colorado, a master’s degree in Education from The Ohio State University, and a law degree from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

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.

Jennifer is a Fiscal Operations Coordinator with Shared Services Alliance (SSA) where she provides fiscal support to school districts and governmental agencies across Ohio. Jennifer also serves as the CFO for Spencerville Local Schools. Prior, she was the Treasurer/CFO of Benjamin Logan. 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.

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.

Meghan Rohde is Treasurer of Bay Village City School District. She started with the district in April of 2021. Before coming to Bay Village, Meghan served as Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer of Clyde-Green Springs School District in southeastern Sandusky and northern Seneca counties.

Prior to serving school districts, Meghan was a Senior Internal Auditor for PNC Bank in Cleveland and the Standard Register Company in Dayton.

Meghan earned her B.S. in Accounting and Finance from Wright State University and her MBA from Ohio University. Meghan is an active member of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials. During her career, Meghan was recognized with the 2018 Emerging Leaders Scholarship Award from the Ohio Association of School Business Officials.

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. 

Andrew recently started as the Financial Operations Coordinator at SSA in November of 2022.  Prior to that he was the ESSER Coordinator for Akron Public Schools, responsible for the planning and usage of nearly $150 million in ESSER money.  He provided the oversight of the ESSER funds to ensure they were used equitably for all students. 

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.