Northumberland boards approve MOU to place school finance under county oversight with probationary staffing terms

The Northumberland County Board of Supervisors and the Northumberland County School Board on June 17 approved a memorandum of understanding that assigns a county finance director to oversee school financial operations and moves two current school finance positions to county employment on a probationary basis.

The agreement, which the two boards amended during the joint meeting, makes the county responsible for hiring a finance director who will supervise up to two finance staff transferred from the school division; those staff will be retained at the county for a minimum 90‑day trial period and, if not kept, would receive two months' severance to be paid from the FY26 school budget unless otherwise agreed by the county administrator.

County Attorney Eric Gregory, who helped draft the text, said the version before the boards “states that the board of supervisors agrees to employ the individuals currently serving those positions on a trial basis for a minimum of 90 days,” language incorporated at the school board’s request. He added the 90‑day period is intended to provide a probationary window while allowing for severance if the arrangement does not continue.

School board members pressed for clarity on supervision, location and whether school employees would retain access to files and records. School Superintendent Dr. Leslie said she saw value in a county director but asked that the MOU ensure “somebody in the division that can run interference on getting those reports together” for school‑specific state filings. School finance staff Shannon Obier described day‑to‑day duties and urged that school employees not be left without support during the transition: “We want to continue to be employees of the school system, but we are also open to working with the county,” she said.

The boards also revised the MOU’s termination language during the meeting. After discussion, both bodies agreed to require approval by a majority of each board to terminate the initial term early; the document’s initial term runs through June 30, 2026, and — unless terminated earlier as provided — would automatically renew through June 30, 2027.

Members on both sides repeatedly said the MOU is a working, transitional document intended to stabilize school financial operations while staff and procedures are realigned. Several supervisors and school board members asked that detailed procedures — for payroll, accounts payable approvals and state reimbursement requests — be drafted and finalized by staff in the weeks after the MOU’s execution.

The boards voted to adopt the MOU as amended. Board discussion and the final motion emphasized the intent to preserve institutional knowledge and to ensure continuity of payroll, benefits and other services during the transition; the MOU also directs the county finance staff to provide the superintendent and relevant school division staff timely access to financial information and records.

Next steps identified in the meeting included advertising for the county finance director position, drafting workflow and process memos to clarify approvals and reimbursements, and a plan to monitor execution of the agreement at regular intervals.

The joint session began with legal and procedural discussion about the presence of school legal counsel and ended with both bodies voting to adopt the revised MOU so county staff can begin implementation work.