Charlie Gorney - Story II

Q&A with Guy Cahill, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations

If you thought the business aspect of running a school district is similar to any other industry, you were probably wrong.

Guy Cahill, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations at Galesburg School District 205, argues that there are similarities with respect to selling a service and tracking demographics, but the major difference is predictability.

Cahill has a B.A. in Education from Illinois State University (ISU) and a M.A. in Educational Administration with a concentration in finance also from ISU.

Knox News Team: Finance and Operations is something you could find in any industry. What makes that which you do in a school district different from, say, in a retail store?

Guy Cahill: Predictability. Even though a good portion of our finding is derived from state sources, even though the state is in financial turmoil, they are going to fund education at some relatively predictable level. There’s enough information in the media and coming from associations and sources that suggest trends. Their bet is bigger, though. If they bet on the wrong mood of the customer, and what they thought was waxing as a fad was actually waning, it could be something they couldn’t overcome. In schools, we don’t have to make those bets. Unlike the retail industry, our biggest expense and challenge is…negotiating contracts, primarily those of employees. Our business is different. We’re not trying to sell a product. Yes, we need to sell to you and your parents that you want to come to the public schools…and I accept that, but our challenge in that regard is to attract and retain the best and the brightest so that you want to come and learn from them. I want the Socrates and the Platos of the world in my classrooms.

KNT: Are there any other similarities?

Cahill: It’s no different than the retailer in that they look at changes in the demographics of the community like we look at changes in demographics in enrollment. We look at what are priorities of the state; they look at what’s in the interest of customers.

KNT: What’s your typical day like in the office?

Cahill: I check my e-mail, first thing, I check my calendar…I purposely never schedule anything before eight, and I never schedule anything in the office after one thirty, and that way, if I miss something on my calendar, I can usually catch up to it. After that I will usually work on a project for a couple of hours.

KNT: What kind of projects are you currently working on?

Cahill: Today, for example, I was working on the cost savings derived from the three-week winter break. Mark Reid, our energy person in the district, provided me all the data now that he has it, and we’re putting together a memorandum…. And we’re being mindful that the plan was not just the three weeks. The calendar also had an early spring break with originally proposed four-day weeks and three-day weekends. So yeah, we got some numbers, but it’s not reflective of the plan yet. Too many people are confusing that.

…

This is generally not the case, but today, one of my directors came in to tell me that he’s losing an employee who has a better opportunity somewhere else. Which raises two issues: replacing the person, but more importantly, why we lost him in the first place.

KNT: What’s the most demanding aspect of your job?

Cahill: I guess I don’t look at things as being demanding. The thing I always want to get right is providing quality data and information in response to board requests or initiatives we’re putting together. That’s not really demanding, but you’re only as good as the last piece of information you’ve provided somebody. My whole position is one of integrity, and to a lesser extent, trust.