Essentials of Budgeting & Forecasting 2020-2021

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.

Ryan Pendleton is the Executive Director of the North Coast Shared Services Alliance where he coordinates financial and operations support for northeast Ohio school districts through the Educational Service Centers of Northeast Ohio, Medina, and Lorain Counties.

Ryan is very active in state and federal issues concerning education and the potential impact on the students of Ohio. He is a member of the Fair School Funding Work Group, co-chairing both the Base Cost and Analysis and Support Groups.  As an inaugural member of the Work Group, Ryan made significant contributions to creating and advocating for Ohio’s new state funding formula.  His efforts contributed to the Fair School Funding Formula being included in the 2022-2023 Biennium Budget.

Ryan is a Leadership Akron Class 32 graduate and dedicated to serving the community, in particular the students across Ohio. Prior to working at North Coast Shared Service Alliance, Ryan was the CFO/Treasurer of Akron Public and Barberton City Schools and worked previously as a financial advisor.  

Ryan earned a BA in Business Administration from Malone College and an MBA from Cleveland State University.  

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. 

Kristine Blind is the CFO/Treasurer for the London City School District in Madison County. She previously held this position from August 2011 through August 2017 before leaving for the same position with Gahanna-Jefferson Local Schools.

Kristine has been involved in school finance since 1996, beginning as a support staff member in Washington County. She has held several positions throughout her career before becoming a Treasurer in 2009. As a long-time OASBO member, Kristine has participated in numerous committees and serves as a seminar director, mentor as well as frequent presenter.

Mike Sobul is a Senior Analytics Advisor with Frontline Education (formerly Forecast5 Analytics), a national company with over 2,000 clients that provides public sector business intelligence software, consulting, and support services to school districts, higher education institutions and local governments. 

Prior to joining Forecast5, Mike was the CFO/Treasurer of the Granville schools from November 2011 through May 2019 and a consultant with Public Finance Resources from April 2012 until its merger with Forecast5 in May of 2019. 

Mike served as the Section Chief for Forecasting and Special Projects at the Tax Analysis Division of the Ohio Department of Taxation.  He was with the Department of Taxation from December 1986 until his retirement in July 2011.

Prior to joining the Department of Taxation, Mike served for two and one-half years as research associate at the Urban Center at Cleveland State University and two years as a budget analyst for the city of Cleveland. 

Over the past 30 years, Mike has contributed to school funding reform efforts in the Voinovich, Taft, and Strickland administrations.  He also has worked closely with the Cupp-Patterson workgroup since its inception in November 2017.

Mike received his B.A. from Wittenberg University and his Masters of Public Policy from the University of Michigan.  

Chris has over 38 years of proven successful governmental finance and management experience and is a licensed school treasurer, business manager, and holds an Ohio Health, Life and Variable Annuity license. He began his career at the Ohio Auditor of State's Office as an examiner and field audit supervisor leaving that position to become Treasurer/CFO and Executive Director of Business Affairs of public school system in 1984. He has served district from $30 million to $200 million in budget and has managed both CFO and Director of Business Affairs simultaneously in Dublin and Springfield CSD. Chris has received many awards during his career including Ohio School Treasurer of the Year, Ohio School Business Manager of the Year and the Virginia Ramsay Award for Distinguished Service to the profession. He brings considerable expertise to school clients in five year forecast assistance in areas of modeling, projecting and presentation; levy analysis; school comparison studies; efficiency reviews; budget preparation and monthly financial report preparation; superintendent and treasurer executive recruiting; mentoring for school business officials, and strategic planning.

Chris earned a MBA majoring in finance and administration, along with a BS in accounting from Miami University of Ohio, and an AS in business administration from Edison State College. He also holds a designation of Registered School Business Administrator and holds the Ohio Financial Accountability Certificate issued by the auditor of state's office. 

Ryan Ghizzoni, Director of Ohio Analytics, began his career in finance at the Auditor of State’s Office, and served over 15 years as a school district treasurer before switching to the private sector to provide solutions and support on a larger scale.  During his CFO career, he has been the recipient of several ‘Association of School Business Officials’ International Meritorious Budget Awards and was the recipient of the ‘Ohio Association of School Business Officials’ 2011 Outstanding Treasurer of the Year Award. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Youngstown State University and is a Certified Administrator of School Finance and Operations.

Ernie has over 30 years of public finance experience.  Ernie has served as a CFO, consultant, and developer and instructor of financial forecasting techniques and tools, which have now been used by over two hundred Ohio school districts.   Ernie works to facilitate the understanding of local financial results, trends, and strategies.  He holds both a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Ohio University.

Todd Griffith has been Treasurer of Licking Heights Local Schools since June 2017. In this position, Mr. Griffith works with the Board of Education and administration to provide prudent financial management and leadership. The Treasurer's Office is responsible for all fiscal operations of the District. This includes budgeting, forecasting, investing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, financial reporting and serving as public records custodian.

Mr. Griffith received his undergraduate degree from Ohio University and completed his Treasurer’s coursework from the University of Dayton. He holds an active School Treasurer license.  Mr. Griffith is a member of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials.

Cajon Keeton is the Treasurer for the Benton-Carroll-Salem School District in Northwest Ohio. Prior to becoming a Treasurer, Cajon spent 5 years in the classroom as a business and technology teacher. He has a passion for school finance, as well as teaching and learning. 

Mr. Keeton holds a B.A. in Education (Bowling Green State University) and a M.A. in Educational Administration (Tiffin University).

Jeff Dornbusch is the Treasurer for the Port Clinton City School District in Northwest Ohio. He also serves on his local school board as well as a member of the board of directors for his local community hospital.

Prior to becoming a Treasurer Jeff spent 15 years in the private sector as a corporate controller.  He also has a business education teacher license and holds a Master’s degree in Educational Administration.

Jeff also runs Golden Gate Financial Services, LLC which provide financial consultations to public schools in Ohio.