NEW ULM - The District 88 School Board on Thursday approved hiring a full-time business manager.
Myrna Meunier, current business services coordinator for the Region V Finance Consortium, has accepted the position starting April 12.
Her annual salary will be $85,000.
An appropriate arrangement has been worked out with the current provider of contracted business services, School Management Services, to help smooth the transition, said Superintendent Harold Remme.
The vacancy was posted in mid-December, with the idea it may be possible to attract a qualified full-time candidate for a similar cost, in part because of a weaker economy.
School Management Services, of Rochester, provided the service on a part-time basis for the past two years, at a cost of $82,000 per year.
Meunier was chosen from a pool of 12 candidates, only two of whom boasted Minnesota school finance background.
A Certified Public Accountant, she has previously worked with the local district, in her capacity as an employee of auditors Peterson and Co. and later LarsonAllen.
Her title with both auditing firms was field service manager.
Her job history also includes an earlier position as accounting manager for the Industrial Fabrics Association.
Meunier is a graduate of Truman High School. She earned an associate of arts degree at Bethany Lutheran College and then a bachelor of science degree in accounting at Mankato State University.
She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, the Minnesota Society of CPAs and the Minnesota Society School Districts Task Force.
Remme said Meunier has an extensive background in Minnesota school finance and has worked with systems used by the local district to manage data.
She is a specialist in school district cash balance reconciliations and has written articles for the state organization of school business managers and for auditor newsletters.
In another item, the board rejected all bids received to date, and voted to re-bid window replacement projects at Jefferson and Washington schools, to be potentially done this summer.
Officials said the re-bidding is a result of irregularities in some of the bids.