Sacramento School District CFO Offers Valuable Education & Career Advice

The chief financial officer of any Sacramento-area public school faces many business challenges. Managing a school district's checkbook is a complex task. CFO of Pollock Pines School District Sean Martin is good at it, and his degree in business accounting, along with his expertise, is put to the test every day. Maintaining a strong fiscal stance for a school district, especially a small one, is critical to its being able to function properly. With a multi-million dollar budget to make sense of, it is a very real business in a very real sense.

What is the most interesting part of your job?

"I am the CFO of a small school district and I wear many hats. I face new challenges and opportunities every day which keep me busy and my mind stimulated. The variety of challenges keeps me interested in my job. I estimate I have about 30 years left to work, so I have around 60,000 hours of work yet to complete. I want to spend all those hours doing something I love. This job allows me to do that."

What is the size of the budget you oversee?

"The school district budget is approximately $6 million annually. We also recently passed a $9 million general obligation bond. We've started construction/upgrades in our district with the first allocation of funds."

How often do you interface with Sacramento businesses and the state government?

"Working for a school district, interface occurs weekly, or daily, with county, state and federal government agencies. With required reports, mandated programs, policy/legal changes and so on, there is rarely any activity that does not have some interaction with Sacramento government. I also work with many Sacramento vendors to support all of the needs of the district."

Do you enjoy the challenges?

"The challenges are part of what makes my job enjoyable. I find the opportunity to analyze and overcome tough issues a great challenge. I feel a sense of accomplishment when the job is complete. Sometimes the challenges can be, well, challenging. I work with amazing people who all have the same goal of educating children. Even if the challenge is greater than my abilities, I always know the task will be completed with the help of my colleagues."

Is the climate for financial officers challenging?

"The business climate for financial officers is changing a good deal in the education field. The legislature and governor have created an entirely new funding model for education in California. There are many changes to the structure of revenues and the corresponding reporting of data that is required to receive funding. Additionally, schools have just been through some of the worst fiscal cuts ever to education. As new funds are allocated, districts must take time to determine what programs/jobs/activities to restore. We are also implementing a new curriculum and testing system to standardize with a majority of states. I would say that all of these factors greatly impact the business climate for chief financial officers in this evolving field."

Charles Ferris is a freelance writer who has lived in the Sierra, halfway between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe, for the last 37 years. In 2010 he retired from teaching after 36 years . He and his wife hike, kayak, cross country ski, snow shoe, ride mountain bikes and road bikes, year round. His work can be found at Examiner.com.