School Board Honing in on a New Treasurer

The Lakewood is expected to whittle down the field of applicants for treasurer at its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday.

“All together, there were, I think, 21 applicants,” said Christine Gordillo, communications specialist at Lakewood City Schools.

Lakewood Patch filed a public records request with the district asking for the names and resumes of the 21 applicants, but was denied access and told the information lies in the hands of the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA), who is in charge of gathering the applications on behalf of the board.

Superintendent Jeff Patterson said on Friday the board didn't receive the list from OSBA - a private group not covered under open records laws - until Thursday evening.

Gordillo said the board has been consulting with OSBA on how to interview candidates for the treasurer position, and what questions should be asked during the process.

Board President Matt Markling said during the he hopes to have a contract signed with the new treasurer by the end of this month — his last official day on the board — even though the new treasurer won’t start until August 2012, and current treasurer Rick Berdine’s last day isn’t until Dec. 31, 2012.

Berdine is helping with the search and would help prepare the new treasurer for the post.

“We’re not going to interview in public – they’ll be private interviews,” Markling said at the meeting. “If we don’t find a candidate, we hold the right to continue until we find the right person. However, we have reason to believe, based on our consultation with OSBA, that we’re going to and have had outstanding candidates apply for the position.”

Markling said the two future board members – , and either – will be involved in the search “as appropriate.”

Berdine, who to the board in June after more than 10 years with the district, has been consistently silent on his resignation.

Stay tuned to Lakewood Patch for more on the story.