Shelley Kinder, director of finance for Warren County R-III School District, was named Business Official of the Year by the Missouri Association of School Business Officials.The recognition honors the organization’s active members whose work demonstrates personal excellence in service to their school district, community and profession, the organization said.“This means so much to me. This is my 30th year in education and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate,” said Kinder.Kinder, who joined the district in July 2017, maintains a $39 million budget. She said she believes it’s important to maintain financial transparency and encourages open communication. With that in mind, she implemented a group approach to budget creation.Where it is customary for department leaders to meet in smaller administrative groups, Kinder assembled a budget team representing areas of technology, curriculum, human resources, finance and buildings and grounds.She said the group hears the same message from the school principals, who have already worked up proposed budgets for their buildings. The budget team shares the same maintenance checklist for building walkthroughs and a cloud-based document that is organized by building and lists the buildings’s budget requests for the team to review.During the review process, the group meets so they all can provide input and help determine recommendations that will eventually be presented to the board of education, Kinder said.The budget must be adopted by the school board each year by June 30.Kinder has served in both small and large districts during her 30 years in education. She used the team approach before.“I’ve done it in one other district. After I’ve experienced this, it made so much more sense,” she said.She added that the group process is best used in small- to midsize school districts.Regarding the award, she said, “It’s a team effort. As a team, we contribute to each others successes. It’s a team effort districtwide.”Kinder was nominated by Warren County Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith.“We felt like it was important to nominate Shelley for this because we wanted to bring her the recognition we feel she deserves for all of the outstanding work she does for the Warren County R-III School District,” he said.Kinder will receive a $1,000 scholarship to give to a senior next year. She said there will be a selection process that might include an essay contest. Details will be worked out later.Kinder has received multiple awards during her career, including the Association of School Business Officials Meritorious Budget Award, the Government Finance Officers Association’s Excellence in Budgeting and the Association of School Business Officials Certificate of Excellence for Financial Reporting.The Missouri Association of School Business Officials is a professional association of more than 600 school district officials and employees who work in the area of school business administration. The organizations supports members by providing professional growth and networking opportunities. For more information about MoASBO, visit moasbo.org.

Shelley Kinder