Division honoured with ASBO Pinnacle of Achievement Award
In June of 2021, the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) announced Mark DeBoer, CPA, CA, CSBO, SFO, Director of Finance for the Lethbridge School Division, as one of the recipients of ASBO International's 2021 Pinnacle of Achievement Award.
The Pinnacle Award recognizes school business professionals for their resourcefulness and creativity in solving the challenges that school districts face today. DeBoer received the honour for a project that adds financial transparency to the division's reporting and maximizes performance measures.
Through the three-phase project, Lethbridge School Division created financial and performance measure dashboards — information management tools, that combine data in various financial software, surveys, and other areas to inform division personnel and the public.
One dashboard provides real-time financial reporting that the community can access from the division’s website. An internal reporting dashboard combines multiple data sources to provide schools with an enhanced, central source of information about such areas as finance, purchasing, and human resources. A third dashboard, also available to the public, focuses on performance measures and provides data about student achievement, financial ratios/comparisons, demographics, survey results, and more.
"This new and innovative approach for our division provides enhanced information to schools and departments for informed decision making and for finding efficiencies within our operations," said DeBoer. "Enhancements to budget/financial information can allow schools to more effectively monitor their financial information and support decision making that is in the best interests of students."
The Pinnacle Awards are sponsored by Virco, Inc., to showcase replicable projects and practices that allow district business leaders to exchange and implement new ideas to better support their schools and communities. Recipients receive a crystal Pinnacle Award.
For more information about ASBO International's Pinnacle Awards, visit asbointl.org/Pinnacle.