Novato School District Finalizes Budget, Hires Finance Officer

With its $60 million budget approved for the 2011-12 school year, the is now just waiting to see what adjustments have to be made based on the wheelings and dealings in Sacramento.

The NUSD board of trustees OK’d the budget Tuesday and announced that Karen Maloney will be the lucky one to deal most directly with all the dollar signs. She will take over for the retiring Marla Blackledge as chief financial officer by the end of August, the district announced Wednesday. Jan Combes has served in the role on an interim basis.

Maloney, a Mill Valley resident, recently completed her fourth year as assistant superintendent for business services for the Marin County Office of Education in Terra Linda.

“Her extensive experience in key business positions in school districts and with the Marin County Office of Education will be an invaluable resource for our district, especially during this time of significant budget challenges for the schools in our district and in our state,” said Pam Conklin, NUSD’s acting superintendent.

Conklin added that Maloney is already familiar with Novato’s finances, which makes the personnel transition more smooth than it could have been. In addition, Maloney will continue to help the Marin County Office of Education during the hunt for a permanent replacement.

“We’re fortunate. There’s a learning curve with any new job, but we already had a relationship with her for four years,” Conklin said.

Mary Jane Burke, Marin County Superintendent of Schools, added in a release, “It is good to know that her talents and experience will be at work for the largest school district in Marin County and that she will remain a resource for the entire county.”

Prior to her time at the county office, Maloney served as associate superintendent for business services for the Shasta County Office of Education, and as director of business services for Anderson Union High School District in Anderson, near Redding.

Conklin, in charge until arrives in mid-July, said the budget is slightly down from last year but underfunded by $10 million from the state. She said the district is forced to operate under deficit spending.

“Without the state budget approved, this is really guesswork,” she said. “It’s based on the direction of our fiscal advisers with information to the best of their knowledge, but certainly it’s all unknown. … We’re still spending more than we’re getting in.”

Conklin said 80 percent of the district expenses go to salaries. The trustees approved about 25 layoffs for the coming school year, about the same as a year ago. Conklin said the trustees obviously were upset as they finalized the budget Tuesday.

“They’ve heard all along about our negative spending and that we’re going to run out of money, so absolutely they’ve expressed frustration with the system and with the state not being able to make a decision,” she said. “To have the burden on the backs of the kids … it’s just not right.”