OASBO/OSBA/BASA Winter School Finance Workshop 2023-2024

Marnie is the Assistant Chief Deputy Auditor for the Auditor of State’s Office, where she has proudly served the Office for more than 26 years and brings more than 21 years of large project management leadership experience.  In her role at the AOS, Marnie oversees the Center for Audit Excellence, Local Government Services, Medicaid Contract Audits, and the Data & Information Technology Audit groups and assists in researching, consulting, interpreting, and implementing professional standards across the office.  Marnie’s specialties include project management and implementation and interpretation of professional standards.  Most recently, Marnie has directed special projects developing strategies for integrating data and analytics into various phases of the audit process and for audit implementation of Pandemic federal funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and other associated Congressional Acts.  In a similar role, Marnie led the Auditor of State’s implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. 

Marnie has Bachelors of Arts Degrees in Accounting and Business Administration, with a concentration in Management, from Mount Vernon Nazarene University.  She serves on the AICPA’s Single Audit Roundtable and the National State Auditors Association (NSAA) Single Audit Committee –two forums of key single audit stakeholders such as the AICPA, GAO, OMB, Federal Inspector Generals, and State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers.  Marnie also serves on the NSAA Audit Standards and Reporting and IT Conference Committees.

Aaron Rausch is the Chief of Budget and School Funding at the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), where he manages an agency budget of more than $17 billion and administers the state’s school funding program. In 2019, Aaron received the Dick Maxwell School Finance Award from the Buckeye Association of School Administrators. Prior to joining ODE in 2014, Aaron worked for the Ohio Office of Budget and Management as a budget analyst in the education section. Aaron started his career in state government as a performance auditor, focusing on school district performance audits at the Ohio Auditor of State's Office. Active in his community, Aaron serves as an advisory board member on the Columbus and Central Ohio Children’s Chorus Foundation, sings with the Choral Union at Capital University, and rides in Pelotonia every year. 

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 Hogue serves as director of legislative services for the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA). Jennifer, who joined OSBA in 2014, has extensive legislative experience and is responsible for all aspects of the association’s legislative efforts.

In addition to overseeing the OSBA legislative staff, Hogue lobbies on behalf of Ohio public education, prepares and presents testimony before the Ohio General Assembly, manages OSBA’s Federal Relations Network and develops agenda and staff recommendations for the association’s Legislative Platform Committee. She also monitors Ohio Department of Education activities and supervises Kids PAC, OSBA’s political action committee. In addition, she works with the OSBA Delegate Assembly, writes articles for association publications and conducts informational and training workshops.

Prior to joining OSBA, Jennifer served as a legislative liaison at the Ohio Department of Education and worked as a legislative aide in both the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate and served as an intern in the United States Senate. 

Nicole Piscitani is the lobbyist at the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA). Prior to her role at OSBA Nicole spent 5 years working in Washington, D.C. as a government relations coordinator for the Options Clearing Corporation and 6 years working as a government relations manager for the Columbus Chamber of Commerce. Nicole started her career as a Legislative Service Commission fellow after graduating from the University of Toledo with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and communication.

Scott Palider is the lobbyist at the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA). Prior to joining OSBA Scott spent 2 years as the legislative, national security, and veteran’s affairs & rehabilitation director for the American Legion Department of Ohio. Before returning to Ohio for the American Legion Scott served as a political field coordinator in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 2020 election cycle. Scott’s career started as a community organizer and national security policy researcher for the San Francisco based non-profit, Global Exchange. Scott obtained his Master’s degree in international studies from the University of San Francisco and his Bachelor of Art in political science from the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Paul Imhoff has been a public educator for over 30 years earning his Bachelor’s and Doctor of Education Degrees from Miami University and his Master’s Degree from the University of Dayton.  Imhoff was an Ohio superintendent for 16 years serving the Mariemont Schools in Cincinnati, Ohio and the Upper Arlington Schools in Columbus, Ohio.  He was selected as the Ohio Superintendent of the Year in 2018 and was the President of AASA in 2021/2022.  Currently Imhoff serves as the Director of Government Relations for the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, Ohio’s Superintendent Association.  In addition, Imhoff is active in the AASA Leadership Network leading the Mental Health Cohort and the Eastern States Consortium and is a veteran of the Ohio Army National Guard.

Dr. Howard B. Fleeter received his Ph.D in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1990.  He was a faculty member in the School of Public Policy and Management at Ohio State University from 1989-1999, where he taught courses in Public Sector Economics, Public Finance, and State and Local Government Finance.  He was a four-time recipient of the School’s “Faculty of the Year” award for excellence in teaching.  Dr. Fleeter was also a faculty member in the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1999-2001, where he taught courses in the Economics of Education and School Finance. In 2002 he joined with Richard Levin and Bill Driscoll to form the state and local government finance and tax policy consulting firm Levin, Driscoll & Fleeter.  After the retirements of Mr. Levin and Mr. Driscoll, the firm is now known as Howard Fleeter & Associates. 

Dr. Fleeter's research has focused on issues of education finance, education policy, and state and local tax policy and he is the author of numerous policy studies and academic journal articles on these topics.  Since his 1992 report, "Equity, Adequacy and Reliability in Ohio Education Finance" for Governor Voinovich's Education Management Council he has been one of the state’s leading experts on Education Finance.  He has worked extensively with Ohio education policy-makers to improve the state's school funding system for more than 25 years.  He currently serves as a research consultant on education finance and policy issues for the Ohio Education Policy Institute.