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Board questions paying two finance directors as interim role wraps; staff to report back
Summary
Board members debated continued payment to an interim assistant finance director while a new finance director is on payroll; some members urged discontinuing the interim arrangement to save money, others said the interim staff is saving the district money by catching billing errors on the new high school project and requested a follow‑up report.
Members of the Halifax County School Board debated whether to continue paying an interim finance director while the district also pays a permanent finance director, with one board member urging discontinuation to avoid the apparent duplication and another arguing the interim worker had recovered invoicing errors that saved the district money.
During the consent‑agenda discussion, the board considered a line‑item in payment of bills that included roughly $900 in travel expenses in a single month for the interim finance director. Several board members said it appeared the district has been effectively paying two people in the finance function for the last two and a half years and questioned the fiscal prudence of the arrangement.
A different board member, however, told the board that the interim finance staff had been focused on the high school construction invoices, catching errors on multiple vendor invoices and protecting the district from overpayments. The speaker said dismissing the interim staff before the completion of the high school project could cost the district more in the long run.
After discussion the board did not remove the payment item from the consent agenda but directed Superintendent Doctor Huskin to provide the board with a written report on the interim finance director’s duties, how the role will change after the high school project completes, and recommendations for timing of any personnel changes. That report was requested for the next meeting to give the board more information before acting on personnel or payment discontinuation.
The board later approved payment of bills; members asked staff to present options in a future agenda about making the closed session record‑keeping clearer (a related procedural issue raised in the meeting).
The board requested a specific report from administration and said it would consider removing the consent item later if the provided information justified that action.
