The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Canton treasurer finalist for New Haven CFO job
NEW HAVEN — The Board of Education is expected to vote today on a finalist for the job of fulltime chief financial officer.
The school board’s meeting agenda lists Phillip J. Penn, of Burlington, CFO and treasurer of the town of Canton, as the finalist for the executive role. If approved, his starting annual pay would be $185,000 and his start date Nov. 18. The district has not had a CFO since July 2016.
According to Penn’s LinkedIn profile, in his most current role he manages a $40 million operating budget and $50 million in pensions and other assets. New Haven Public School district has a $188 million operating budget this fiscal year.
Penn lists restructuring Canton’s separate town
and Board of Education finance operations into a single department as a highlight of his current role.
Earlier this year, a man emailed school board members alleging that he was given a verbal offer for the NHPS CFO role, but contact with district officials ceased after he questioned why he was being asked to meet with finance officials in City Hall. For about the last month, a search for a fulltime CFO that lasted for the entirety of Superintendent of Schools Carol Birks’ tenure since March 2018 began to winnow down.
A team of district officials interviewed six finalists — four who were located through an executive search firm hired by the district — and a second round of interviews was conducted by Birks. Days after the finalist interviews, the Board of Education approved an exit agreement for Birks to leave the district after ongoing concerns over her performance, buying out eight months of her contract and placing her in the role of consultant as the school board prepares for an interim superintendent.
Yesenia Rivera, chairwoman of the board’s Finance and Operations Committee, said she spoke with Penn on the phone and reviewed his resume after the board approved ending its relationship with Birks.
“Mr. Penn seems very much qualified for the position of CFO. When I spoke with him what I took away most of all was his enthusiasm and eagerness to come into a district/ position where he could make a difference. He said he looks forward to being challenged and affect positive change. I think that is important in a candidate at this time,” Rivera said in an email.
Iline Tracey, an assistant superintendent who is handling the duties of superintendent for the month of October, was one of the staffers who conducted the first round of interviews. Tracey said Penn was located through the executive search firm. Per the district’s agreement with WeSource Workforce Solutions, the Board of Education would owe a fee of 15 percent of Penn’s salary if he is hired, or $27,750.
According to his LinkedIn profile, before serving as CFO of Canton, Penn was business manager of Plymouth’s public schools for nearly three years from 2015 to 2018. In that time, he said he cut $500,000 from the district’s operating budget — including $135,000 from the district’s transportation budget — and created savings by introducing solar power installations and bringing that district’s food service operations inhouse. Energy savings and moving food service operations inhouse were two hallmark projects of New Haven’s former COO Will Clark, who left for a similar job in Waterbury last year after more than a decade with NHPS.
From 2007 to 2009, Penn was CFO of The Hartford’s claims division and from 2009 to 2010 he was vice president of finance strategic initiatives at the company.
Penn has school board experience himself, serving as treasurer and then chairman of Region 10’s Board of Education beginning in 2007, serving at least two terms on that Board of Education. He has a bachelor’s degree in finance and business management from Cornell University and an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University.
Penn did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.
For the last three years, NHPS has ended the year at least $2 million in the red, raising the ire of some members of the Board of Alders. This year, the school board initiated a Budget Mitigation Committee — which relies heavily on community volunteer support — to make budget recommendations in the absence of a CFO.